Mention of service during the
American Revolution and the War of 1812
From the 1882 and the 1907 Histories of Whitley County Indiana
History of Whitley County
by Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical editor;
Charles Blanchard, Biographical Editor.
F. A. Battey & C., Publishers.
Chicago: 1882.
Prepared for the
The Colonel Augustin de la Balme Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
Prepared by
Donald E. Gradeless
Whitley County Historical Society
SR-Indiana, Seth Jewel SAR Chapter
Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Indiana
American Revolution
Page 237:
JOSEPH W. ADAIR, County Superintendent of Whitley County, Ind., was born in Washington Township,
Noble County, Ind., November 29, 1843, and is one of eleven children, six yet living, born to Joseph E. and Eliza
(Windoes) Adair, the mother being the second wife. The first wife was a Miss Coons, who left two children at her death,
both of whom are living. Joseph E. Adair was a native of Virginia, born July, 1797. His parents were John and
Elizabeth (McKnight) Adair, natives respectively of the County of Downs, Ireland and Scotland. John Adair came to
America as a British soldier during the Revolutionary war, was taken prisoner by the Colonial troops, and held
until the close of the struggle, when he married Miss McKnight in South Carolina, removed to Virginia, and afterward
to Madison County, Ohio, where he died, aged 74 years. Joseph E. Adair received a liberal education. Was married in
Madison County, Ohio, emigrating, in 1836, to Noble County, Ind., where he purchased a large tract of land on the
south side of the Tippecanoe River, where he engaged in clearing and farming, until his death, October 29, 1849, He was
an honest and highly respected citizen, and filled the office of Justice of the Peace for many years. Mrs. Adair was
married, in 1854, to C. B. Wood, who died in 1871, Mrs. Wood dying in September, 1873. Joseph W. Adair remained on
the farm and attended school until the age of sixteen, when he came to Columbia City and entered Douglas' select
school, after which he began his career as a teacher, teaching in Elkhart, Whitley and Noble Counties, and Principal of
the schools of Ligonier, and of the high schools of Wolf Lake, making a total of twenty terms. During this time, he
attended a year at the Methodist College at Fort Wayne, and one year at Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Ind. In
March, 1869, he located in Columbia City, and began the practice of law, having read law for some time under Hon. H.
D. Wilson, of Goshen. In 1873, he became a partner of Hon. J. S. Collins, which continued until January, 1882. He
married, July 25, 1867, Miss Amelia Young, daughter of John Young, Esq., ex-Auditor of Noble County, and to them
have been born three children— Edward T. (deceased), Jessie and Josephine. Mr. Adair is a Democrat, a member of the
I. 0. 0. F., the 0. F. Encampment, and of the Masonic Fraternity, being High Priest of Columbia City Chapter, and also
of the Commandery at Fort Wayne. He is emphatically a self-made man. In September, 1881, he was elected County
Superintendent of Schools of Whitley County, in which capacity he is now serving.
Page 247:
CHARLES J. EYANSON was born September 20, 1839, in Versailles, Ripley Co., Ind. A year or more after
his birth, his parents returned to Philadelphia, Penn., from which place they had previously removed. Here Charles J.
1882 History of Whitley County
American Revolution
acquired his education, and, in 1853, engaged in the dry goods trade, which he continued for three years, after which he
learned the tailor's trade, which he has since followed, with the exception of an engagement as general agent for a sewing
machine company, when he traveled over the South, establishing local agencies. In 1860, he formed a partnership with
his brother, Thomas E., in Huntington, Ind., in merchant tailoring, where he remained until 1862, when he went to
Roanoke, to carry on the same business. In 1865, his partnership was resumed with his brother, at Columbia City, on an
extended scale, under the firm name of Eyanson Brothers, at the same time carrying on the manufacture of woolen
goods in the woolen mills at the same place. The partnership with his brother was continued until January, 1874, when
it was dissolved, Charles J. continuing the business alone. Besides his tailoring establishment with its dozen employes,
he carries a large and general assortment of readymade clothing, cloths, hats, caps and gents' furnishing goods, doing a
successful business. November 20, 1866, he contracted marriage with Miss Magdaline Zimmerman, a native of
Blumenfeld, Baden, Germany, and they are parents of six children — Charles J., Stephen T., Walburgh M., Frank E.,
Lewis and John N. Mr. and Mrs. Eyanson are of the Catholic faith. Mr. E. is a Democrat; has held the office of
Township Trustee, and is the present Town Treasurer. Mr. Eyanson's great-grandparents, on the father's side, came
from the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland, to America, with Lord Baltimore, and John Eyanson, our subject's grandfather,
was born in Cecil County, Md., in 1753, and served eight years in the Revolutionary war. A brother of John, our
subject's grand-uncle, William, also served in the Revolution, and was taken prisoner at New York; was
afterward exchanged, but died from the effects of starvation.
Pages 268-269
I. B. RUSH came with his parents to Grant County, Ind., in early life,, where he remained on the farm until
twenty-five years of age. He then went West, but returned in 1859, and in response to President Lincoln's first call for
troops in 1861, volunteered, went to Indianapolis, was sworn into service, but the volunteers exceeding the number
required, many were debarred from active service, and Mr. Rush returned home, reenlisted in August, 1861, in Company
F, Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as private; was immediately sent to the front, commissioned Sergeant
Major, and entered active service. In June, 1862, was promoted to Second Lieutenancy. In August, 1863, was made
First Lieutenant and Adjutant of his regiment, and soon after was placed on detached service on staff duty, serving as
Assistant Adjutant General to Brig. Gen. E. B. Brown, of St. Louis. Mr. Rush participated in all the important
engagements from Cairo to New Orleans, including the siege of Vicksburg. He was also at Fort Donelson, Port
Hudson,. Champion Hills, and the capture of Jackson, Miss. At Champion Hills he was severely wounded in the right
knee, from the effects of which he yet suffers. While at Vicksburg, Mr. Rush was detailed on "Flag of Truce Duty," and
sent into the interior by Gen. Grant's orders. Mr. R. still preserves these orders in the General's own handwriting. He
participated in the very last battle of the war, on the grounds of Palo Alto, where Gen. Taylor fought his celebrated
battle in 1847, and was mustered out of service in 1866, when he returned home, remaining until 1869, when he came to
Columbia City and accepted the position he now holds in the Columbia City Bank, where he has since remained. Mr.
Rush was born in Randolph County, N. C, June 11, 1833, and is the oldest child of Nixon and Demaris (Byrne) Rush,
who were natives of North Carolina, and of English and German-Irish descent respectively, and both families of
Revolutionary war memory, both great grandfathers, Rush and Byrne, serving in the struggle between the
Colonies and Great Britain, and both grandfathers serving in the war of 1812. Nixon Rush was reared in the
South, on his grandfather's large plantation, where he held ownership in sixty-eight slaves, to all of whom he gave their
freedom in 1835. Thirty eight of these were sent to Indiana with Nixon Rush, their expenses being paid by his father.
They were left in Orange County. All took their old master's name, and many have attained considerable prominence
among the colored people. Nixon Rush and wife are both living in Grant County. Mr. I. B. Rush was married in June
1870, to Nancy Elliott, of Beaver, Penn., and their family consists of two daughters, Demaris and Margaret. Mr. Rush is
a Republican, and Mrs. Rush is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Page 326:
WILLIAM WATSON is a native of Wayne County, Ind., born December 25, 1824, and son of William and
Nancy Watson. His parents, both natives of Kentucky, removed to Wayne County, Ind., in 1805; they had thirteen
children, and died in the years of 1859 and 1849 respectively. William Watson, our subject, was married in 1851, to
Elizabeth J. Wolf, daughter of William and Mary Wolf, natives of Virginia, and descendants of the Irish and German.
Mr. Watson was brought up on a farm, and followed that occupation six years after his marriage. He then took a trip to
Kansas with the intention to locate, but abandoned this project and returned home, removing with his family, in the fall
of 1859, to this township and locating on eighty acres of his present farm, which is now double that size. Mr. Watson is
a Republican, and has served two years as Road Supervisor. Mr. and Mrs. Watson are parents of seven children, four
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1882 History of Whitley County
American Revolution
sons and three daughters. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Watson, while serving in the Revolutionary war in
February, 1777, was captured by the Indians, but succeeded in making his escape after three and a half years.
Page 341:
BRINTON JONES was born in Greenville County, Va., December 27, 1813, one of nine children of
Benjamin and Winifred (Shehorn) Jones, natives of said county. Benjamin Jones moved with his family to Greene
County, Ohio, in 1825, where he farmed on shares till February, 1835, when he removed to this township, then
unorganized, where he entered eighty acres of land, cleared a farm, and resided until his death, February 17, 1854, his
widow surviving till December 16, 1873. They were both members of the M. E. Church, and were among the first
pioneers of the county. Our subject, Brinton Jones, received a very fair education, and remained on the home farm till
thirty years of age, and for a time taught a subscription school. April 20, 1843, he married Susan Thomas, born in
Mecklenburg County, Va., in September, 1825, the daughter of Stephen and Lucy (King) Thompson. To their union
were born Harriet M., now Mrs. William Pampy; Ceney A., now Mrs. John Smith; Johanna, now Mrs. Fielding Pampy,
and Sarah A. D., now Mrs. Marshall Winburn. Mr. Jones still owns and lives en the land he entered when a young man
— forty acres in 1837 and forty in 1840. He and his wife are both members of the M. E. Church, and in politics he is a
Republican. The grandfather of Mr. Jones, Brinton Jones, Sr., was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Pages 357-358:
ELIJAH De PEW was born in Luzerne County, Penn., May 10, 1818, one of fifteen children of Levi and
Rachel (Walker) De Pew, born in New Jersey in 1777, in April and May respectively, and there married. Levi settled on
234 acres in Luzerne, Penn., in 1800, following his trade of blacksmith in connection with farming till his death in 1868.
Elijah, our subject, received a very fair common-school education, and worked on the home farm until twenty five years
old. He began teaching school at the age of seventeen, and taught for thirteen winters — eight of them in one house.
November 1, 1841, he married Jeannette E. Paige, born in Franklin County, N. Y., September 21, 1821, and the
daughter of Rufus A. and Jane (Middaugh) Paige, natives of that State. Her grandfather, Solomon Middaugh, was a
Captain in the Continental army during the Revolution, and part of the time Aid-de-camp on Washington's
staff. Mrs. De Pew died in Columbia Township, this county, April 5, 1852, in the Methodist faith, and leaving one child
— -Mary M. (now Mrs. A. J. Steele). In 1849, Mr. De Pew entered eighty acres in Columbia Township, built a house
and cleared up the land, and then traded for 160 acres in this township, in 1855. The same year he moved to Columbia
City and worked at his trade, carpentering, till 1859, then moved on his farm. December 6, 1853, he married Rebecca
Winget, who was born in Greene County, Ohio, August 11, 1821, the daughter of Robert and Sarah (Rinerson) Winget,
natives of Pennsylvania, and by this marriage became the father of three children — Frances E., Rachel A. and Isa B. In
politics, he is a Democrat, and served as Assessor of Columbia Township two years.
Page 358:
JOHN F. DEPOY was born in Fayette County, Ohio, December 21, 1821, the eldest of three children born
to Nicholas and Esther (Furnow) Depoy, natives respectively of Rockingham County, Va., and Ross County,
Ohio, Mrs. Depoy's father having been a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Nicholas Depoy came to Ross
County when fourteen years old, and in that county was married. In 1820, he moved to Fayette, where he owned 100
acres of land, and cleared up a farm. Here Mrs. Depoy died October 19, 1825. In March, 1829, Mr. Depoy was married
to Henrietta Taylor, a native of Virginia. In 1845, he came with his family to this township and bought 170 acres of wild
land, cleared up a farm, and added to it until he had increased it, at the time of his death, November 9, 1865, to 370
acres. John F. Depoy, our subject, remained on his father's farm in Ohio till he was twenty-three years of age, and
January 23, 1845, married Delilah Bainter, born in Fayette County, and the daughter of George and Elizabeth (Howard)
Bainter, the former born in Pennsylvania March 2, 1795, and the latter in Virginia January 8, 1796. In 1845, Mr. Depoy
came with his wife and his father's family to this township, and remained on his father's farm four years. He then
bought, in 1849, eighty acres of the land where he now lives, then all woods, which he has increased to 110 acres of wellimproved land. He has had born to him five children — Jeannette A. (now Mrs. J. M. Harrison), Esther E. (now Mrs.
Albert Douglas), Louisa F., Reuben J. and Augusta L. Mr. Depoy is a Republican, and has been Township Assessor for
eight years. He is a Freemason, and he and wife are members of the M. E. Church.
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1882 History of Whitley County
American Revolution
Page 359:
REUBEN DREW was born in Putnam County, N. Y., April 28, 1815, one often children born to James and
Charity (Barrett) Drew, natives of the same county. James Drew was a farmer, and in 1842 moved to Monroe, Fairfield
County, Conn., where he died. Our subject worked on the farm till twenty-one, and at his majority offered his vote at
the polls, but it was refused, as he was not an owner of real estate. This incident decided him to come West, and the
same year he reached Calhoun County, Mich., where he worked three years for a farmer, receiving as pay a deed for
eighty acres of land. September 2, 1810, he married Mary B. Hurd, born in Cayuga County, N. Y., October 30, 1814,
whose maternal grandfather, Rev. Michael Burdge, was a soldier in the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Drew have had
no offspring, but reared an adopted son, William (Young), who was a soldier in the Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, and died in hospital at Munfordville, Ky., in 1864. In 1855, Mr. Drew sold his farm in Michigan and came to
this township and bought the 120 acre farm on which he now resides. From 1869 to 1876, he engaged in mercantile
business at Coesse, and then returned to his farm in retirement. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and in politics Mr. Drew is a Republican, and served as Township Assessor during his residence in Michigan.
Pages 374-375:
ELIAS WINTER was born in Lebanon County, Penn., October 24, 1815, one of five children born to John
and Mary (Zegley) Winter, both natives of above county. Ellas Winter's grandfathers, paternal and maternal, were
soldiers in the war of the Revolution. John Winter moved with his family to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1831, where he
bought 160 acres of land, and where he died in 1862, his wife following in 1864. Our subject received the ordinary
education of his day, and worked on his father's farm till he reached the age of twenty-two years, and then worked on his
own account at job work till 1841, when he came to this township and bought 200 acres of unimproved land, on which
he at present resides. He then returned to Ohio, and October 23, 1845, married Maria Wallmer, who was born in
Lebanon County, Penn., May 22, 1825, the daughter of George and Catherine (Miller-Shuey) Wallmer, also natives of
Lebanon County. To this union wore born twelve children, of whom there are now living the following: John, George,
Amanda A. (now Mrs. Samuel Rouch), Catherine (now Mrs. N. Miles), Benjamin and Simon. In 1854, he returned to his
land in this township, going back to Ohio in 1859, to care for his father and mother, and returning permanently in 1865.
Mrs. Winter died here— September 27, 1866, and January 30, 1868, Mr. Winter married Mrs. Ann (Bonewitz) Johnson,
born in Wayne County, Ohio, September 3, 1827, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Franks) Bonewitz. Mr. Winter is a
member of the German Reformed Church, and his wife of the M. E. Church. He now owns 400 acres of well-improved
land, and is a leading farmer in the township.
Pages 399-400:
B. F. PUTT, M. D., is the son of John W. and Mary Putt. His father was born in Washington County, Md.,
March 24, 1819, the son of Benjamin and Barbara Putt, born in the said county. They moved to Stark County, Ohio, in
1826, and settled on the spot where Massillon now stands. Benjamin was born in 1756, and was of Holland
descent. At the age of nineteen, he enlisted in the Revolutionary war, serving under Capt. George Lancaster a
part of the time and under George Washington the balance. After the war, he settled on a farm in Bucks
County, Penn. Was married, in 1813, to Barbara Lawmen; moved to Washington County, Md., and, in 1826, to Stark
County, Ohio, and there died in 1852, aged ninety-six years, his wife surviving him four years. They left a family of four
boys and three girls. John W. was the fourth son, was born in Washington County March 24, 1819, came with his
parents to Ohio, and was there married, January 1, 1841, to Mary Wiest, who was born in Huntingdon County, Penn.,
January 1, 1819, the daughter of Jacob and Catharine Wiest, who emigrated from Germany to Cumberland County,
Penn., about 1805, and purchased a large tract of land, which was all lost through a poor title, and then moved, in 1827,
to Massillon, Ohio, where the father shortly after died, leaving a wife and seven children, Mary being the eldest daughter;
shortly after, the mother followed the father. John W. followed his trade of wagon-maker in Stark County until 1853,
when he moved to Allen County, Ind., and purchased the farm on which he and wife now reside, enjoying life at the ripe
age of sixty-five, after having reared a family of eight children, born and named as follows: Sarah A., October 9, 1841;
Harvey A., May 20, 1843; Caroline, April 19, 1845: William, March 25, 1849; John, March 24, 1851; Benjamin F., August
16, 1853; Rosana, March 19, 1858, died January 23, 1861; Charlie, August 6, 1859. At the age of six years, our subject,
Benjamin F., began his studies in a country school, which he continued till his twelfth year, when the family moved to
Fort Wayne; here he attended the Western College four years, when his father moved back to his farm. The New Year's
Eve of 1868, our subject lost three fingers from his left hand by the explosion of a gun, which accident disabled him as a
farmer, and he then began the study of medicine. Having already acquired considerable knowledge of anatomy and
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1882 History of Whitley County
American Revolution
physiology, he made very rapid progress. He entered a drug store at Nine Mile, Allen County, as druggist and Deputy
Postmaster, at the same time practicing medicine until 1876, when the Medical College at Fort Wayne was organized.
Here he attended a five-months course of lectures, had access to the hospital wards daily, and read in the office of W. H.
Myers, the well-known surgeon. Having completed his collegiate course, he came to Forest in 1877, and resumed
practice in association with Dr. John Richards, and soon gained the confidence of the public as a competent, careful and
attentive physician. April 17, 1878, he married Miss Lillian E. Barger, daughter of Elias and Mary Barger. Elias Barger
was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, October 15, 1833, his wife in Delaware County, Ind., October 4, 1833, and they
were married at Roanoke, Huntington County, Ind., September 10, 1857, where they still reside, enjoying every comfort
and the respect of all who know them, and the enduring love of their two children — Lillian E., born April 2, 1860, and
Flora E., born August 29, 1862. Shortly after his marriage, Dr. Putt purchased property at Forest, and withdrew from
his partnership with Dr. Richards. In 1881, he took a second course of lectures at Fort Wayne College, and graduated
with high honors. His practice is now very extensive as well as lucrative. He has a fine residence, a well stored library,
and has made a number of paying investments. He has one son — Harold F., born September 23, 1880. He is a
member of the Masonic order, which he joined in 1876; and is also Deputy District Grand Master of the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, and is altogether a popular and rising young man.
Pages 425-426:
WASHINGTON JONES, is the son of Levi M. and Mary (Thomas) Jones, both of whom were natives of
Virginia and of Welch descent. They were among the first settlers of Wayne County, Ind., locating there in March, 1815,
and for some time were engaged in running a hotel at Centreville, then the county seat. In October, 1823, Levi Jones
died, leaving his wife with ten children, the eldest being only fourteen. She moved to the country, rented a farm, and by
the hardest work and through many privations, she reared the family and lived to see them grown to maturity. For ten
years she clothed herself and family with flax from the field and wool from the sheep. The subject was born in Wayne
County, Ind., December 8, 1816, and when nineteen started for himself by purchasing 160 acres of land in Madison
County, Ind., and until this was paid for he lost only two working days. He began teaching school in 1838, and followed
that six winters. January 23, 1845, he was married to Catharine Hunt, and in 1848 moved to Noble County, locating
soon after on the farm of 320 acres where he now lives. Mr. Jones is a Republican, an anti-secret society and
temperance man. Himself and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and have had five children, three of whom are
living and have been assisted by their father in securing comfortable homes. The grandparents of Mr. Jones were in
the Revolutionary war, and his grandfather, Thomas, served under Washington. The subject, upon leaving home,
said to his brother, "Tis hard to be driven from one's native country, but poverty is driving me, and if I do not secure a
comfortable home in the future 'twill be because I have died in the attempt."
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1882 History of Whitley County
War of 1812
Pages 213:
Among those who stepped forth, in 1812, at their country's call, was David Hemmick, who served as
Orderly Sergeant in one of the militia regiments under Gen. Harrison. He thus fought the Indians in Indiana, and
was very probably at the battle of Tippecanoe in November, 1811, and at the various other smaller battles which made
the name of Harrison famous. He lived to an old age, but is now at rest in the grave. Thomas Walker served in a
Virginia regiment. He lived east of Columbia City. James Jones also went out from the Old Dominion to fight his
country's battles. John Jackson, who lives west of town, also served his country in 1812. William James, yet living
some distance from Columbia City, was a soldier in the war of 1812; but in what regiment, or from what State, has
not been learned. Mr. Maring, who lived near Forest for a number of years, was among the number. These are
all the names of soldiers of 1812 that could be learned that ever resided in “Little Whitley," although there were several
others.
Page 165:
Bela Goodrich was born in February, 1776; settled in Delaware County, Ohio; then came to Richland
Township, June 16, 1838. Mrs. Goodrich's maiden name was Sally Church. The children of these living are rice, Abigail
and Eunice . A modest, unpretending man, who loved peace and sought the duty of the hour to perform; a
soldier of the war of 1812. His ashes repose in the cemetery near Levi Adams.'
Pages 236-240:
G. M. BAINBRIDGE was born in Oneida County, N. Y., March 19, 1832, and is one of twelve children,
seven yet living, born to Edmund and Dorcas (Wiggins) Bainbridge, who were natives respectively of New Jersey and
New York, and of English descent, his grandfather, Richard Bainbridge, being a native of England, he having a brother
who was a Commodore in the American Navy during the war of 1812. Edmund Bainbridge followed the
occupation of farmer through life. Himself and wife lived together fifty-three years, his death occurring in New York in
1873. Mrs. Bainbridge is a resident of the city of Rochester, N. Y. G. M. Bainbridge remained in New York until 1859,
when he went to Vineland, N. J., but, not being favorably impressed with that place, came to Columbia City, Ind., where
he has since resided. His first venture was in a general boot and shoe business, which he continued until 1865, when
himself and brother purchased the stock of B. & S. Herr, merchants, G. M. becoming sole proprietor soon afterward.
He carries a fine line of goods, and has one of the best general stores in the city, and has met with continued success
from the start. Mr. Bain bridge was married, February 14, 1865, to Miss M. J. Hughes, born October 10, 1843, and
daughter of Charles W. Hughes, deceased, who came from Virginia to Whitley County at an early day, and whose
biography and portrait accompany this work. Mr. and Mrs. Bainbridge are parents of three children, and are members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Pages 249-251:
D. R. HEMMICK first saw the light in Greene County, Ohio, October 29, 1836, and is a son of David and
Catherine (Johnson) Hemmick, who were natives of Ohio and Virginia respectively, and parents of eight children, three
of whom are living. David Hemmick was possessed of an ordinary education, a farmer and shoemaker, and was married
in Ohio. In the fall of 1859, he emigrated to Columbia City, Ind., having two sons at that place. His death occurred
August 1, 1866, at the age of seventy-six years, seven months and seven days. He was a non-commissioned officer in
the war of 1812 under Gen. Harrison, a most unassuming and honorable man. His widow yet lives in Columbia
City at the advanced age of ninety-one years. D. R. Hemmick is of German-English descent, and received the usual
advantages of the day for education. Coming to Columbia City, Ind., in 1857, he worked at cabinetmaking and plastering
until the breaking-out of the rebellion, when he enlisted an Company E, Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and
was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, under Gens. Thomas, Rosecrans, et al. He participated in the battles of
Greenbrier, Chickamauga, Shiloh and others; was 'Commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1865, and soon after promoted
to First Lieutenant, serving through the war; he was discharged in September, 1865; succeeding that, Mr. Hemmick
returned to Columbia City, where he engaged successively in plastering, livery, dry goods and hardware business. In
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
1874, a partnership was formed to carry on the dry goods and grocery trade under the firm name of Neely & Hemmick.
In 1877, this firm assisted in establishing the City Mills, and have retained their interest ever since. Mr. Hemmick was
married, April 26, 1866, to Miss Lucy A. Watson, a native of Ohio, and to this union were born two children — only
one, Rena, yet living. The mother died in the spring of 1870, and Mr. Hemmick married his second wife, Margaret
Daniels, a native of Richland County, Ohio, in 1872, she dying the same year. Mr. H.'s present wife was Mrs. Sarah Ellen
(Jones) Parrett, whose former husband was killed at the battle of Fort Donelson in 1862. Two children have blessed his
last marriage; but one, Cora Ruth, surviving. Mr. Hemmick is a stanch Republican, a member of the I. 0. 0. F., No. 176,
Columbia Lodge, and himself and wife are members of the Lutheran Church.
Pages 255-256:
DR. DAVID G. LINVILL is of Welsh descent, his ancestors coming to this country about the time of
William Penn's advent. Three brothers, William, Benjamin and Solomon, settled in Pennsylvania. Benjamin was the
great-grandfather of the subject of our sketch. Himself and brothers were hunters by occupation, and, in 1730, they
discovered a creek in Virginia, which has since been called Linvill Creek in their honor. Here Benjamin settled in 1756,
and reared a family. One son, the grandfather of Dr. Linvill, was named Benjamin, after his father. He married a Miss
Matthews, who bore him a family, and lived and died at his home on Linvill Creek, a large plantation and slave owner.
Of a family of nine children, Benjamin, the third son, was the father of Dr. Linvill. After his father's death, the
homestead was sold and Benjamin, taking the proceeds, went into Ohio, and purchased a section of land on Rush Creek,
in Fairfield County, to which place the family removed previous to the war of 1812. Here Benjamin married Sarah
Swayze, a daughter of Judge David Swayze. He was a miller by occupation; served in the war of 1812, and is yet
living in New Salem, Ohio, at the advanced age of ninety. His wife died in 1872. They were parents of four sons
and one daughter, all living except one son, who died from disease contracted while in the army. Dr. D. G. Linvill was
born on the banks of Rush Creek, Fairfield County, Ohio, February 1, 1821. Until he became of age, his time was
variously occupied as miller, clerk and in perfecting his education. At this time he began the study of medicine with his
uncle. Dr. Swayze, and graduated at the Western Reserve College, at Cleveland, in 1819, and the same year formed a
partnership with his uncle for the practice of medicine at Columbia City, Ind. This partnership continued until 1855. Dr.
Linvill has been eminently successful in his practice, both as surgeon and physician. He became a member of the
American Medical Association in 1874, and is also a member of three local. societies. He holds liberal views on politics
and religion, and is a member of the M. B. Church, and also belongs to the mystic brotherhood of Royal Arch Masons
of Columbia City. He was married June 24, 1854, to Martha J. Myers, daughter of Abram Myers, and fifteen children
have been born to them; but eight now living, viz.: Lewis, David, Frank, Eddie, Hayes, Benjamin, Elbertine and
Josephine. Dr. Linvill has been more than ordinarily successful in life, and is one of the most prominent and highly
respected citizens of Whitley County.
Page 267
JOHN RHODES is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, where he was born,' November 9, 1814, and is one of
eight children (four yet living) born to Peter and Catherine (Hoffman) Rhodes, who were both natives of Pennsylvania,
and of German descent. Peter Rhodes followed distilling and weaving in earlier life, but after his marriage, moved to
Franklin County, and engaged in farming. He served in the war of 1812, moved to Putnam County, Ohio, where he
died in 1838, and his widow the year following. John Rhodes remained on the farm until 1837, receiving but a limited
education. At the age of twenty-three, he began learning the mill-wright trade, and at the age of twenty-five had
thoroughly mastered the business. In March, 1839, he contracted marriage with Mary Ann Clevinger, who died in 1840.
In July, 1841, he came to Columbia City, purchased the lot he now owns, cleared up the trees, and erected a frame
building, 18x36 feet, one story. He then returned to Ohio, and in December, 1841, was married to Ann Enslen,
returning in August, 1842, to Columbia City, which, at that time, was a comparatively new country. Since then, by
industry, economy and energy, he has become one of the most substantial citizens. Himself and wife were parents of
four children — Francis L., Sarah E., Alfaretta A. and Edith A. Of these, only two are living — Francis, who married
Lillie Cunningham, and Edith A., now Mrs. Ruch. The mother died November 22, 1874.
Pages 268-269
I. B. RUSH came with his parents to Grant County, Ind., in early life,, where he remained on the farm until
twenty-five years of age. He then went West, but returned in 1859, and in response to President Lincoln's first call for
troops in 1861, volunteered, went to Indianapolis, was sworn into service, but the volunteers exceeding the number
required, many were debarred from active service, and Mr. Rush returned home, reenlisted in August, 1861, in Company
F, Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as private; was immediately sent to the front, commissioned Sergeant
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Major, and entered active service. In June, 1862, was promoted to Second Lieutenancy. In August, 1863, was made
First Lieutenant and Adjutant of his regiment, and soon after was placed on detached service on staff duty, serving as
Assistant Adjutant General to Brig. Gen. E. B. Brown, of St. Louis. Mr. Rush participated in all the important
engagements from Cairo to New Orleans, including the siege of Vicksburg. He was also at Fort Donelson, Port
Hudson,. Champion Hills, and the capture of Jackson, Miss. At Champion Hills he was severely wounded in the right
knee, from the effects of which he yet suffers. While at Vicksburg, Mr. Rush was detailed on "Flag of Truce Duty," and
sent into the interior by Gen. Grant's orders. Mr. R. still preserves these orders in the General's own handwriting. He
participated in the very last battle of the war, on the grounds of Palo Alto, where Gen. Taylor fought his celebrated
battle in 1847, and was mustered out of service in 1866, when he returned home, remaining until 1869, when he came to
Columbia City and accepted the position he now holds in the Columbia City Bank, where he has since remained. Mr.
Rush was born in Randolph County, N. C, June 11, 1833, and is the oldest child of Nixon and Demaris (Byrne) Rush,
who were natives of North Carolina, and of English and German-Irish descent respectively, and both families of
Revolutionary war memory, both great grandfathers, Rush and Byrne, serving in the struggle between the Colonies and
Great Britain, and both grandfathers serving in the war of 1812. Nixon Rush was reared in the South, on his
grandfather's large plantation, where he held ownership in sixty-eight slaves, to all of whom he gave their freedom in
1835. Thirty-eight of these were sent to Indiana with Nixon Rush, their expenses being paid by his father. They were
left in Orange County. All took their old master's name, and many have attained considerable prominence among the
colored people. Nixon Rush and wife are both living in Grant County. Mr. I. B. Rush was married in June 1870, to
Nancy Elliott, of Beaver, Penn., and their family consists of two daughters, Demaris and Margaret. Mr. Rush is a
Republican, and Mrs. Rush is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Page 286: (mention of war but not service)
ARNOLD FAMILY.— This well known family is of English descent, and settled in North Carolina during
the last century, but some time later moved to South Carolina and, early in the present century, to Ohio. The head of the
family was Moses Arnold, who located in Warren County, Ohio. His family was large, one of the sons being William,
who, in the course of his life, had a family of thirteen children, twelve of whom reached maturity. William, at the close of
the war of 1812, and while yet a young, though married, man, settled near Greenville, Darke Co., Ohio. Here he
followed farming and stock raising, and by industry made himself a good home. George, John, William, Jesse, Henry H.,
Isaac N. and a sister, Maria (Arnold) Hopkins, were children of William. George came to this county in 1842, settling
four miles east of South Whitley. Four years later, John came and settled near his brother George. Jesse came in 1852,
and the other members of the family followed him. arriving at intervals. James lives in Blackford County, and is a
prominent citizen there. John and William are dead. George lives at Bluffton, Ind., is a capitalist and is Postmaster of
that town. Isaac and Henry H. live at Huntington, Ind., and are prominent citizens. Jesse lives in North Manchester,
Wabash Co., Ind., as does also his sister Maria, whose husband, S. V. Hopkins, is editor of the North Manchester
Journal.
Page 288:
ABRAHAM COLLETT was born in Baltimore County, Md., October 3, 1815, the son of Aaron and
Elizabeth (Dorsey) Collett, natives of the same State. The mother died in 1833, and the father, for a second wife,
married Chloe Miller. To the first marriage there were born eight children, and to the second there was one. In 1835, the
father and family moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, and four years later to Wabash County, Ind., where the father
died in 1873 and the mother in 1879. The father had served in the .war of 1812, and he and family were highly
respected. Our subject was reared on the home farm till twenty-two, when he went to work for himself, by the day,
month or job, carefully saving his earnings. September 17, 1840, he married Miss Catherine Ramsey, who was born in
Washington County, Md., February 10, 1819, and to this union were born three children — James, Aaron and Angeline.
James, the only one now living, was born in Wabash County, Ind., November 12, 1841, and, December 25, 1865,
married Miss Susan Moore, who was born in this county November 16, 1843, and to this couple five children have been
born, viz.: Lizzie B., Ada C. and Lulu, living; and Charley and an infant, deceased. James Collett enlisted in the fall of
1861 in Company E, Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry; served till the close of the war, and saw much active
service; he now resides on a farm in the township, an honored and respected citizen. In 1842, our subject settled on
Section 18, this township, and engaged in farming and stock-raising till 1865, when he removed just over the county line
into Jackson Township, Kosciusko County, where he still resides. At the time of his marriage he had saved enough of
his earnings to purchase 160 acres unimproved land, which he has increased to 300 acres, and, besides this, has given his
son a good farm. He is a self-made man, but has been ably assisted by his good wife, who is a woman of ability and good
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sense. He has always followed farming, with the exception of eight years passed in Collamer in mercantile pursuits. He is
a Republican in politics, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church.
Page 289:
CYRUS S. COTTON was born in Holmes County, Ohio, August 10, 1826, the son of James and Rachel
(Gooden) Cotton, both natives of Beaver County, Penn., where they were married, and whence they moved in an early
day to Holmes County, Ohio. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died when our subject was six years
of age. In 1844, the mother and family moved to this township; they were poor, but the mother was a good manager
and hard-working woman, and reared her family with credit, one of her sons, John S., being twice elected to the
Legislature as well as holding other public positions of trust. Our subject helped in caring for the family up to the time
of his marriage, in 1851, to Miss Sarah Wantz, who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, May 13, 1836, and who has
borne her husband twelve children, viz.: Clarinda, Franklin P., Frederick, Wellington, Barton, Augusta, John, Mary C,
and four others that died in infancy. Mrs. Cotton died April 22, 1874, and September 3, 1874, our subject married
Christina Schultz, a native of Huntington County, Ind., and born September 1, 1851. To this union there have been born
three children, viz.: Charles, James and George. Mr. Cotton is self-made; the eighty acres of well-improved land he now
owns came from his own hard work and thrifty habits. In politics he is a Democrat, and is a useful citizen of the county.
Page 291:
ANDERSON GRIMES was born in Wayne County, Ind., June 18, 1810, the son of James and Sarah (Scears)
Grimes, natives of Kentucky. The father first came to Indiana in 1806; he was a soldier under Harrison in 1812,
and of his two sons and one daughter, Anderson alone is living. September 4, 1829, our subject married Miss Susanna
Beeson, who was born in Wayne County, Ind., June 19, 1810. He followed farming in Wayne till 1853, when he came to
this township and settled on the farm he now owns, which then consisted of 320 unimproved acres; he has now 162
well-cultivated acres, having deeded the balance to his children. Mrs. Grimes died January 19, 1869, the mother of ten
children, viz.: Mahlon, James, Sarah J., Pamelia, William, Jesse B., John, Isaac, Ford and Mary C. Of these, four sons
enlisted in the late war, as follows: William, April 1861, in Company E, Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
wounded at Hoover's Gap, and died at Stone River from effects of wound; James, August, 1861, Company C, Thirtyfourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, served till close of war; Jesse, August, 1 862, Company K, Eighty-eighth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, served till the close; Isaac February, 1864, Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, served till close of the war. They all made good records. Most of our subject's children are living in
Whitley, and are public-spirited citizens. Mr. Grimes has always followed farming and stock-raising, and in politics was
first a Whig and then a Republican,
Pages 291-292:
JEREMIAH GRIMES was born in Wayne County, Ind., October 15, 1820, the son of Alexander and Pamelia
(McHenry) Grimes, both reared and married near Lexington, Ky. They moved to Wayne County about 1806, and there
died. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served his time out, and then that of another man. He was
twice married, and was father of ten children, five by each wife. Our subject, issue of the first marriage, was reared on a
farm, and was married in Wayne County, October 17, 1844, to Miss Mary A. Haines, born in Clark County, Ohio,
August 18, 1823, and to this union there have been born six children, viz.: Charles A., William B. Walter, Clem R., Harry,
and a daughter that died in infancy. He continued at farming in Wayne County till 1850, when he came to this township
and located on unimproved land. He has now eighty acres of finely improved property, and has also disposed of
considerable. He is a Democrat, liberal in his views, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Page 296:
CHRISTIAN MYERS was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, January 24, 1819. He is grandson of
Christian Myers, who moved from Virginia to Montgomery County, Ohio, during the first settlement of that county. His
son Henry, father of our subject, came with his parents to Ohio, and there married Mary Wirick, whose people moved
from North Carolina to Preble County at a very early day. Henry Myers was teamster in the war of 1812, and also in
the Indiana campaign against the Indians. In 1838, he brought his family to this township, bought ninety acres of
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References to the War of 1812
land from James Chaplin and 120 acres from William Parrett, near where the village of Collamer now stands, and also
entered lands in Cass and Kosciusko Counties. He brought with him a four-horse wagon, a two-horse wagon, some
cows and sheep, household furniture and considerable cash, but for all that he and family underwent many of the
hardships of pioneer life. Of his nine children seven were living when he came to Indiana; there are now alive only two
sons and one daughter. The parents were very intelligent people, and were most favorably known among the earlier
settler.. In 1849, the father took his farewell of earth, his widow surviving till November 23, 1873. Our subject was
reared to hard work and became a thorough farmer. January 1, 1843, he married Miss Catharine Abbott, who was born
in Preble County, Ohio, February 11, 1824. Her father, James Abbott, came to Kosciusko County in 1834, and located
one mile west of where Mrs. Myers now lives. Two days after marriage, our subject and wife moved into a log cabin
within a few feet of their present residence, and since then have never been absent from the farm for a longer period
than ten days. They now own 250 acres of land, and have, besides, given to each of their married children a good farm.
Their children number five, viz.: Nathan, Emeline J., William F., Nora A. and Annie M. Nathan enlisted in Company E,
Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in the spring of 1862, and died while in the army of typhoid fever. Our subject
and wife are members of the Christian Church, and in politics he is a Republican, and is looked upon as one of the
county's best citizens.
Pages 298-299
MARTIN, FREDERICK and HAMILTON PENCE are the children of John and Mary F. (Hoffman)
Pence, natives of the "Old Dominion” where they were reared and married. They moved from Virginia to Champaign
County, Ohio, in 1822. There were five children born to them, and some years after their removal to the Buckeye State
the mother died. The father married for his second wife, Barbara Loudenback, and by this marriage there were nine
children. The father had been a soldier of the war of 1812, and always followed farming and was a hard-working,
industrious man, and respected and useful citizen. Martin Pence, son by the first wife, was born in Page County, Va., July
9, 1818. Frederick, his brother, in the same county and State, April 4, 1820; and Hamilton, in Champaign County, Ohio,
January 26, 1822. These sons received but little or no education, and after the death of their mother fared very poorly at
the hands of the step-mother. Long before they were able, they were compelled to perform the same and as much work
as that of full-grown men. Martin left home when about seventeen, and for some years worked by the day or month, and
at anything he could turn an honest penny at. His wages were small, and it was only by the hardest work and strictest
economy that he succeeded in saving a little money. He was married to Miss Barbara Loudenback August 6, 1843. She
was born in Champaign County, Ohio, May 8, 1820. From this union were born six children, viz., Noah, John, David,
Susanah, Melissa and Josephine. Noah served his country in the late war, in the Eighty-eighth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry. He died at Nashville, Tenn., while in his country's service. Martin lived in Champaign County, Ohio, following
farming till 1850, when he came to this county and located on the farm he now owns. The place was all woods and had
no improvements. He now owns 160 acres. He is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. Frederick Pence
also went through many hardships and privations in youth and for years after he came to this county, which was in 1850.
He was fifteen when he left his parental roof and began the battle of life. Having no education, there was no opening
but hard, physical labor. He went to work with a will and labored at whatever he could find to do. He married Miss
Susan Jenkins April 26, 1840. She was born in Champaign County, Ohio, September 12, 1819. From this union ten
children were born, viz., Philander R., Rose A., Mary F., Nancy J., Amanda, John W., Bell, Sabra, Tamson and Martha.
Five of these children are deceased. In 1847, Frederick and his brother Hamilton came to this county and purchased
some land, paying $3.50 per acre for it. They then went back to Ohio, and in 1850 both came to this county and located
on their land. At the time of marriage, Frederick had no property. He has always worked hard and has accumulated
considerable wealth. He now owns 120 acres of land and a nice and comfortable home in South Whitley. He has given
liberally to his children. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the E. B. Church. Hamilton Pence left home
when thirteen years of age, and up to the time of marriage had little or no means ahead. He worked by day, month and
job. He and brother Frederick would chop cord wood at 25 cents per cord and make rails at 25 cents per hundred,
taking in pay wheat, corn whisky or anything they could convert into money. In 1850, Hamilton came to this county and
located on what is now the Goble farm, in Cleveland Township. He was married in Champaign County, Ohio, July 24,
1844, to Miss Sarah Harbour. She was born in Champaign County, Ohio, August 8, 1819. From this union there were six
children, two of whom are now living, viz., Allen and Joseph. Those deceased were, Lovina, Tamson, Richard and Jason.
Allen served his country in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the late war.
Hamilton Pence, after his marriage, lived with his father-in-law some time, then moved on a small place belonging to
him, where he remained until 1845, when he moved to Jefferson County, Iowa, but after living there about a year, and in
Illinois, near Springfield, some months, returned to Ohio, where he remained till he came to this county in 1850. After
living some years in Cleveland Township and clearing ninety acres of land, he sold it and went to Champaign County,
Ohio, and purchased his father-in-law's farm, but after a year sold that, and again came to this county, where he has
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since resided. He owned 320 acres of land, but has given 160 of it to his sons. He is a Republican, and a member of the
U. B. Church. In taking a retrospective view of the life, success and acquirements of the Pence brothers, it can be truly
said of them that they were self-made men. They began life as very poor boys, but by hard work and economy, coupled
with strict honesty and straight dealings, have made for themselves and families comfortable homes and secured an
enviable reputation among the people with whom they have lived, and in the county which they have helped to improve.
They were stanch Union men during the late war, contributing over $1,500 for sanitary and other purposes. They are
ever ready to help the weak and oppressed, and have liberally contributed to all religious, educational and other worthy
enterprises.
Pages 300-301:
RICHARD RITTER was born in Champaign County, Ohio, February 2, 1819, the son of Henry and
Elizabeth (Harbour) Ritter, The father was born in Kentucky, but moved, when a boy, with his parents to Ross County,
Ohio, and was here reared; but, while still a young man, went to Champaign County, and there enlisted and served in
the war of 1812, He married in Champaign County, held there numerous official positions, was Captain in the State
Militia and a leading and influential citizen, and father of nine children. At an early day, he came to Whitley County and
entered 320 acres of land in this township and 160 in Washington Township. In 1840, he gave 160 acres of the
Cleveland Township land to our subject, who that year came out to see the property and get the deed recorded, and
make some improvements. Our subject then returned to Ohio, and, until 1844, alternated between the two States till he
was fully prepared to move here permanently. September 15, 1842, he married Sarah Kiser, who was born in Clark
County, Ohio, in 1821. In 1844, he came to live on the land alluded to above, which he has since made his home, and
has well improved. In 1862, Mrs. Ritter died, the mother of nine children, four of whom are yet living — James, Elijah,
Catherine and Emeline; those deceased were Perry, Jane, Landora, Eldora and John. Of the sons, James served during
the late war in the Eighty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Elijah in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, and
were both good soldiers. Mr. Ritter has always followed farming and stock-raising; is a Democrat; has held several
township offices, and is a good and useful citizen.
Pages 303:
ANDREW W. SICKAFOOSE was born in Stark County, Ohio, February 13, 1821, the son of George and
Margaret (Wagner) Sickafoose, natives of Pennsylvania, and married in that State, whence they emigrated to Stark
County in about 1817, and settled in Pike Township. The father, who had served in the war of 1812, died July 7, 1840,
and his wife followed in 1850. Our subject was reared on the farm, but on reaching his majority learned the blacksmith's
trade, and assisted in caring for the family after his mother's death. January 24, 1847, in Stark County, he married Miss
Mary McDonald, born in Canton, Ohio, August 13, 1825, and to their union were born four children, viz.: Marion, Ellie,
Laura and Electa. In 1851, he brought his family to this county, and a year later began working at his trade in South
Whitley, where he has since remained, and now owns a pretty home in the village and 160 acres of good land in the
township. In politics, he formerly affiliated with the Whig party, but joined the standard of the Republicans at an early
day. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Page 304:
LEWIS M. STEWARD was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, September 20, 1816, the son of Zadok and
Mary (Miller) Steward, natives respectively of Wales and Germany. They were married in Virginia, and moved to
Cincinnati in early times, and there the father conducted a mill and distillery. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and
served under Harrison at Tippecanoe and in other fights, and died at his home about 1824, when our subject was
eight years old. The orphaned boy, by working at odd jobs, saving his money, attending school at times and studying
hard, acquired a good education, and began teaching school while still young. In 1848, he came to this county, bought
eighty acres of land, where he now lives, and moved upon it in 1849. In 1838, he married Miss Hannah Harbour, born in
Virginia in 1820, and they became the parents of seven children, viz., Robert J., Theodore, Catharine, Joseph, Oliver P.
and two that died in infancy. Mrs. Steward died in 1854, and in 1856 our subject married Mrs. Hannah Parrett, who was
born in Licking County, Ohio, in 1822, the daughter of Abraham Grable, one of the pioneers of Whitley County, and its
first Treasurer. To this marriage were born six children, viz., Roseltha M., Franklin D., Ettie, Clara, Claud Maud and
Jennie B. During the late war, Robert J. and Theodore were both in the Union army. Our subject now owns over two
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hundred acres of well-improved land adjoining South Whitley, and has held the office of Justice of the Peace for sixteen
years. He is a Democrat, and a member of the M. E. Church,
Pages 316-37:
JAMES GRANT was born in Seneca County, N. Y., May 10, 1806, the son of Abraham and Sarah Grant,
natives of New Jersey. The parents moved to Canada in 1809, but returned to New York, Genesee County, shortly after,
where three of the sons went into the war of 1812, two returning and one, Thomas, being killed in the battle of
Black Rock. In 1818, they removed to Ontario County, N. Y., and thence to Dearborn County, Ind., where our subject
resided till twenty-two years old, when he began roaming and working for six years. In 1833, he married Eliza Beard, a
native of Maryland, but a resident of Seneca County, Ohio, and continued working as carpenter and shipbuilder till the
fall of 1839, when he brought his family to this (then Troy) township, locating on land he had entered in 1837. In 1851,
he erected the first steam saw-mill the county ever had, and ran it successfully for sixteen years. He became the father of
eleven children, nine of whom are yet living. Three times he has been elected Justice of the Peace in his township, served
as Trustee under the old law, and filled various minor offices. His first vote was cast for Gen. Jackson for President, and
he has ever since adhered to the Democratic party. He has retained a garden spot of 40 acres of his farm, and now lives
in retirement, enjoying the harvest of his early enterprise and industry.
Pages 333-334:
LEMUEL DEVAULT was born in Ross County, Ohio, April 15, 1828, and is one of eleven children born to
Nicholas and Frances (Brown) Devault, the former a native of Pennsylvania, but of French descent, and the latter of
Ohio and of English extraction. Nicholas Devault emigrated to Ross County, Ohio, when a young man, and when that
country was an unbroken wilderness. Here he married and bought a farm, resided on it till 1858, sold out, bought
another farm, near Whitehall, III., moved upon it, and there passed his remaining days. Mr. Devault served as soldier
in the war of 1812, and died a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Lemuel Devault, our subject, received a very
fair common-school education in his youth, and worked on his father's farm till about twenty years of age; then worked
by the job two years; then farmed for his father and others on shares. In the fall of 1851, he came to this township,
bought forty acres wild land, and was obliged to borrow money to make the first payment thereon, but by industry,
economy and integrity has acquired 634 acres of well-improved land, beside valuable property in Columbia City and
Churubusco. He was married in Columbia City, in November, 1851, to Frances Tulley, of Ross County, Ohio, daughter
of Francis and Elizabeth (Wayland) Tulley. Mrs. Devault died September 28, 1855, a member of the United Brethren
Church, and Mr. Devault, November 30, 1856, married Nancy Wells, daughter of Rev. Hugh Wells; but there have no
children been born to him. For fifteen years, Mr. Devault has filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and has just been
re-elected, which will make his term twenty years, and he has also served as Trustee of the township. He is a member of
Columbia City Lodge, No. 189, A., F. & A. M., is a Democrat, and he and wife are members of the Lutheran Church,
and rank among the leading citizens of the township.
Pages 336-337:
MOSES T. GRADELESS was born September 4, 1820, in Fayette County, Ohio, and was one of seven
children born to Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Waugh) Gradeless, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Ohio.
Nathaniel Gradeless moved to Fayette County, Ohio, when a young man, was there married and there remained until the
fall of 1836, when he sold his farm of 160 acres and came with his family to Thorn Creek Township, this county, entered
160 acres, and ended his days thereon May 28, 1862, his wife having died but nine days before. Mr. Gradeless was a
soldier in the war of 1812, and was under Gen. Hull at the time of that officer's surrender, but he, with five
others, refused to yield, and concealed himself for two days in the swamps. He afterward served under Gens. St.
Clair and Wayne; was stationed at Fort Wayne, was in the battle of Spy Run, in Allen County, and took part in an
expedition which destroyed Little Turtle's village in Union Township, this county, and was in several other Indian tights.
Oar subject, Moses T. Gradeless, worked on the home farm till nineteen years of age, and then for five years hired out
by the month. In 18J:1, he married Mary Smith, who was born in Fayette County, Ohio, August 16, 1818, the daughter
of Samuel and Rebecca (Jones) Smith, and to their union have been born five children, viz.: Josiah, who was a member
of Company B, Seventy-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and died in hospital at Gallatin Tenn., December 23, 1862;
Mrs. Mary E. Vanderment; Clarissa, now Mrs. J. W. Smith; Martha E., now Mrs. William Coverstone; and Rebecca J.,
now Mrs. Benjamin Fisher. Mrs. Gradeless died January 27, 1875, and September 9, 1877, our subject married Mrs. Mary
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E. (Morse) Foster, who was born in Orleans County, N. Y., September 5, 1817, the daughter of Jotham and Dorcas
(Ferris) Morse, and mother of three children by her first husband. In 1841, Mr. Gradeless bought eighty-four acres of
land in this township, where he now lives. He is a member of the Masonic order, and in politics is a Republican, and his
wife is a member of the Christian Church.
Pages 346-347:
JACOB NICKEY was born in Augusta Co., Va., July 1, 1814, one of ten children of Samuel and Catherine
(Balsley) Nickey. Samuel Nickey's parents came from Germany when he was but three years old, in 1769, and settled in
Pennsylvania, but removed to Virginia, where he married and resided till his death, February 17, 1832. He had been a
soldier in the war of 1812, and was a member of the Lutheran Church. In the fall of 1832, Mrs. Catherine Nickey
moved with her family to Ross Co., Ohio, and in the fall of 1834 removed to Lake Township, Allen Co., Ind., and then
to Union Township, this county, where she bought sixty acres of land and lived for many years, but died in 1852 at the
home of her son David, in this township. She was a member of the M. E. Church. Jacob Nickey, our subject, has
acquired a very good education by self-teaching, his early opportunities having been meager. February 19, 1834, he
married, in Ross Co., Ohio, Elizabeth Briggs, native of the place, and daughter of Samuel and Agnes (Sheppard) Briggs.
By this marriage he became the father of six children, viz.: Elizabeth J., now Mrs. Alex. More; Rose A., now Mrs. George
Perry; Ruhannah, now Mrs. J. 0. Long; Sarah A., now Mrs. William Krider; Clarissa, now Mrs. Metsker, and Allen S.,
now practicing medicine in Boone County, Ind. After marriage, Mr. Nickey farmed on shares, in Ross County, till the
fall of 1839, when he came to this township and bought 120 acres unimproved land the following spring, and here
erected probably the first frame dwelling built in the county. He has increased his farm to 307 acres of well improved
land by adding to it from time to time. Mrs. Elizabeth Nickey died here September 19, 1844, and January 18, 1849, he
married Mrs. Catherine (Crabill) Fredericks, born in Shenandoah County, Va., October 29, 1821, daughter of William
and Catherine (Funk) Crabill, natives of that State, and from this second marriage three children are living, viz.: William
S., Mary N. (now Mrs. N. Metsker), and Jacob W. Mr. Nickey has served many years as Township Trustee under both
the old and new constitutions, and six years as one of the County Commissioners; he was on the first grand jury ever
held in Columbia City, and has always been a Democrat. He and wife are members of the U. B. Church, and are among
the leading citizens of the township.
Pages 353:
OBADIAH J. WADE was born in Virginia March 25, 1814, one of nine children born to Richard and Rhoda
(Harler) Wade. Richard Wade was a farmer by occupation, a reed maker by trade and a soldier in the war of 1812. Our
subject learned to read at Sabbath school, walking five miles every Sunday to attend the same. He worked on his father's
farm till twenty-one years of age, and then went to Augusta County, W. Va., and worked out by the day, month or year.
January 28, 1837, he married Caroline Holt, who was born in Augusta County, September 26, 1814. Their children
number nine, as follows: Mary J., now Mrs. Chockley; John S.; Elizabeth A., now Mrs. Crockston; William I., James A.,
Francis A., Richard W., Augusta V. (now Mrs. Leigh), and Charles W. In the fall of 1841, Mr. Wade moved with his wife
and family to Thorn Creek Township, this county, where he remained till the spring of 1848, when he moved to this
township. Here he bought forty acres of unimproved land, built a log house, and cleared up his farm, which he has since
increased to 293 acres. Mr. Wade served as Township Trustee under the old constitution, and he and wife have for many
years been members of the M. E. Church.
Page 355:
JAMES S. BRIGGS was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 25, 1819, and was one of twelve children
born to Samuel and Agnes (Shepard) Briggs, who respectively were born in Pendleton County, Va., January 15, 1776,
and Greenbrier County, Va., July 15, 1785. Samuel Briggs was married in Virginia, but soon after came to Ross County,
Ohio, bought a farm, and there passed his days. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and for many years Overseer of
the Poor in Ross County. Mrs. Briggs died November 12, 1839, and her husband January 27, 1841. Our subject received
a common-school education, and worked for his father till twenty-three years old, and then worked by the month or
farmed on shares for several years. He married, December 26, 1847, in Fayette County, Reedy Shobe, who was born in
Ross County, July 6, 1826, the younger of two children born to Samuel and Clara (Stingley) Shobe, the former born in
Ross County July 15, 1802, and the latter in Hardy County, Va., October 18, 1801. In 1850, Mr. Briggs came to this
township with his wife and child, and bought the farm of 130 acres on which he still resides. They are the parents of six
Page 13
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
children, viz.: Samuel S., Darius B., Silas L., John M., Lois M. and Thomas B. Mr. and Mrs. Briggs are both members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics Mr. Briggs is a Democrat.
Page 357:
STEPHEN H. CLARK was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., March 5, 1821, one of the nine children of
John G. and Julia (Goodrich) Clark, natives of Hudson City, N. Y., and Connecticut, respectively. They were married at
Auburn, N. Y. John G. was a shoemaker and farmer. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and lived and owned land at
different times in Cayuga, Lewis, Schoharie and Onondaga Counties, N. Y. In 1839, he moved with his family to De
Kalb County, Ind., bought 200 acres of land, and died there in March, 1853, his wife following fifteen days later. Our
subject was fairly educated in his youth, and at fourteen years of age went as an apprentice to blacksmithing for three
years. He left the trade, however, and came with his parents to Indiana, and remained with them till twenty-two years
old, when he commenced clearing a place of his own in Allen County. He was married September 5, 1845, to Jane R.
Moody, born in Greene County, Penn., December 3, 1820, the daughter of Daniel and Mary A. (Davis) Moody, natives
of Maryland and New Jersey respectively. They are parents of four children — Mollie A. (now Mrs. George S.
Mossman), Isaac G., George S. and Hattie E. George S. is a minister of the M. E. Church. In January, 1849, our subject
moved to this township, entered 160 acres and bought eighty acres of land, and now has a model establishment. He was
ordained Deacon in the M. E. Church, in 1857, and Elder in 1871, and has labored as local preacher and circuit rider
thirty-one years. He has read medicine and practiced to some extent; was special agent for the Home Life Insurance
Company of New York, for two years; was special traveling and collecting agent for the Connecticut Mutual, and general
agent of the Union Central Life of Cincinnati. He is a Republican, and a member of the A, F. & A. M.
Pages 365-366:
WILLIAM C. MOWREY was born in Wayne County, Ohio, October 10, 1828, and is the eldest of ten
children born to Michael, Jr., and Nancy (Rouch) Mowrey, born, respectively, in Lancaster County, Penn., June 6, 1805,
and Columbia County, Penn., April 8, 1808. Michael Mowrey, Jr., came with his parents to Wayne when but a small boy,
and here his father operated a gristmill and distillery, and in these Michael, Jr., worked till twenty-three years of age,
when he bought 160 acres of land in the same county, afterward trading for another farm in Wayne, on which he resided
till his death June 8, 1881. William C. Mowrey, our subject, worked for his father till twenty-one, and November 15,
1849, was married to Mary A. Lawrence, who was born in Wayne County March 7, 1830, the daughter of John A. and
Sarah (Rouch) Lawrence. Mr. and Mrs. Mowrey are parents of three living children — Sylvanus H., Emma J. (now Mrs.
John Deem), and John M. Two years after marriage, our subject farmed his father's place on shares, and in 1851 moved
to this township, arriving November 15, and bought 160 acres unimproved land, on which he has ever since resided, and
has added to it till it now contains 400 acres, in a high state of improvement. He takes great pride in his stock, and was
the first to introduce blooded grades in the township. Mr. Mowrey is a Democrat, and has served as Assessor of his
township; he and wife are also members of the Lutheran Church, Michael Mowrey and William Rouch, our subject's
grandfathers, were both soldiers in the war of 1812, and were under Wayne at Auglaise and Maumee, and with
Harrison at Tippecanoe, where Mr. Mowrey was wounded.
Pages 367-368
SOLOMON SAYLER was born in Preble County, Ohio, August 26, 1825, one of seven children born to
John and Elizabeth (Ray) Sayler, natives of Maryland and Virginia, and born August 23, 1779, and March 24, 1795,
respectively. In 1807, John Sayler moved to Preble County, and as a millwright, assisted in the erection of some of its
earliest mills. He served under Gen. Wayne in the war of 1812, at Fort Wayne and in Northwestern Ohio. He was
married in Preble County, bought 160 acres of land, and led a farmer's life till his decease in January, 1856. Solomon
Sayler, our subject, was fairly educated in his youth, and among his early teachers, about 1832, was Albert Sherman,
father of Gen. W. T. Sherman. November 50, 1845, Mr. Sayler married Ann C. Brandenbury, who was born in Maryland
February 20, 1827, and was a daughter of John and Ann M. (Berry) Brandenbury, natives of the same State, and born
respectively March 19, 1799, and December 29, 1808. For a short time Mr. Sayler farmed on shares, but in 1857 bought
a farm of eighty acres in Preble County, which he worked till 1860, when he moved to this township and bought 160
acres. Here Mrs. Sayler died March 7, 1882, leaving six children — Joseph, Ira, Parthenia (now Mrs., G. W. Adams),
John, Aaron and Martha. She was a member of the Christian Church, to which Mr. Sayler also belongs, and she was an
affectionate wife and loving mother.
Page 14
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
Page 372:
ANDREW TAYLOR was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, March 10, 1823, one of eleven children born to
Ebenezer and Margaret (Foster) Taylor, natives of Allegheny County, Penn., and Guernsey County, Ohio, respectively.
Ebenezer came to Ohio at a very early day, married in Guernsey County, and afterward moved to his farm in
Coshocton, and there died, May 14, 1842, his wife following August 17, both members of the M. E, Church. Mr. Taylor
was born in 1779, and served in the war of 1812. Andrew Taylor, our subject, worked with his father till twenty years of
age, then farmed by the month for two years. November 10, 1844, he married Susan Day, born in Coshocton County,
August 28, 1825, and daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Ault) Day, natives of New Jersey and Ohio. To this union were
born eight children, viz.: Mary E. (now Mrs. McConnell), Ebenezer, Lucy J. (now Mrs. Watson), Frances (now Mrs.
Keiser), Burtney, Edward E., Oliver P. and Ellen 0. In 1845, he moved to Green County, Wis., then returned within a
few months to Coshocton. In 1854, he moved to Pulaski County, Ind., where he owned 160 acres, but disliked the
country, and, without unloading his goods, came on to this township, bought eighty acres, and settled down. He has
increased his farm to 200 acres, all now under an advanced state of cultivation. He and wife are members of the
Christian Church, and in politics he is a Republican.
Page 373:
LUKE TOUSLEY was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., August 14, 1831, one of twelve children, born to
David and Ann N. (Noyes) Tousley, natives of Vermont and New York. David Tousley was a member of the New
York Militia in 1812. In 1885, he moved to Knox County, Ohio, and the following spring to Section 12, on the New
York & Erie Canal. He worked at various points on the canal about two and one-half years, and in Hamilton and Butler
Counties, Ohio, until June, 1843, when he came to this township, bought 120 acres of unimproved land, and
subsequently added 160 more. In the spring of 1855 he made a trip to Missouri, and died, supposedly of cholera, on
board a steamboat on the Missouri River. Luke Tousley, our subject, worked on the homestead farm until two years
after his father's death, and then married, January 1, 1857, Susanna L. Wiles, who was born in Hardin County, Ohio,
December 5, 1889, of David and Margaret A. (Sines) Wiles, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Tousley are
the parents of two children — Clara A. (now Mrs. M. G. Walker), and Susanna V. A. He owns 205 acres of good land,
160 being part of the old homestead. In 1880, he started a general mercantile business in Coesse, which he is still
following with success. Mr. and Mrs. Tousley are members of the Christian Church, and in politics Mr. Tousley is a
Republican.
Page 421:
JOHN SNODGRASS, a retired farmer, was born in Clark County, Ohio, October 22, 1807, and there lived
till nearly twenty-eight years of age. His father having died in 1826, he was compelled to take charge of home affairs,
which he did till 1833, when he was married, March 7, to Ann Cowan, daughter of Thomas and Jane Cowan, natives of
Pennsylvania and Ireland, respectively. In 1834, he started West, stopping awhile in Elkhart and in Kosciusko Counties,
and in 1837 moved on his farm in this township, and has been living there now more than forty-five years. His farm of
164 acres is now in a fine condition. At the first election, in 1840, Mr. Snodgrass was chosen Town Trustee, and during
his term in office assisted to lay out the first public road in the township; to this office he has been since elected a
number of times. He has always been active in the Democratic ranks, and has served as County Commissioner to the
entire satisfaction of his constituents. Mr. Snodgrass was the father of nine children, seven sons and two daughters.
Three of the sons served as soldiers in the late war. Thomas is now sleeping at Little Rock, Ark., and John died at
Indianapolis, Ind.; Joseph served during the latter part of the war, and is now a farmer in this township. Our subject was
the son of John and Jane Snodgrass, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch and Irish descent. They had a family of nine
children, our subject being the only one living. He well remembers the soldiers of 1812, one of his brothers being
among them. In the fall of 1881, Mr. Snodgrass was awarded, at the Old Settlers' Meeting in Troy Township, a gold
headed cane, in recognition of the fact of his being the oldest settler of Troy.
Page 15
History of Whitley County, Indiana
By S. P. Kaler & R. H. Maring
B. F. BOWEN & CO.
1907
Revolution
Page 480-482
FRANKLIN H. FOUST
In modern times banks have constituted a vital part of organized society and governments have depended
upon them for material aid in times of depression and trouble . Their influence has extended over the entire world and
their prosperity has been a barometer which has infallibly indicated the financial status of all nations . Of this important
branch of business, Franklin H. Foust is a worthy representative . The story of his success is instructive as well as
entertaining, dealing as it does with a gradual rise from unpromising beginnings to a position of commanding influence
in the financial world.
Franklin H. Foust was born in Delaware county, Ohio, January 10, 1825 . The paternal grandfather, Jacob
Foust, was born in Germany, and when a youth accompanied his father to the United States, settling in Cumberland
county, Pennsylvania, where the family became tillers of the soil . Jacob Foust removed to Delaware county, Ohio,
being one of the first settlers in that section.
He located where the city of Delaware now stands and constructed the first bridge across the river between
that point and Columbus . The family lived in their wagons until they could hew timbers and complete the erection of
the primitive log cabin which served as their domicile . The land was wild and the Indians still disputed dominion with
the incoming pioneers . Jacob Foust bore arms in the war of the Revolution and in recognition of his services
was awarded a pension, which he continued to draw until the time of his death . His son, Henry, who was born
in Pennsylvania, married Mary Olds, of the same state, in 1812, and settled ten miles north of Delaware where they
began housekeeping in a log cabin, typical of the place and period . He enlisted as a soldier in 1812, while his wife
contributed what she could to the cause by doing camp work at Fort Norton . After the war they were reunited and for
more than sixty years lived happily on the farm which they had reclaimed from the wilderness, where both eventually
found graves . Henry Foust was a successful farmer and accumulated a competency . He was a man of strong
individuality and integrity of character and served many years as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church .
He had nine children who grew to maturity, but the only survivors are Solomon and Franklin, the former a resident of
Atlanta, Kansas . Franklin Foust was reared on the old homestead in Ohio and bore his part in its reclamation and
cultivation . Schools were scarce and poor in those days, but he managed to acquire an elementary knowledge of the
ordinary English branches and arithmetic . In his boyhood he partially learned the shoemaker's trade at which he
frequently worked until twelve o'clock for the compensation of fifty cents a night . The frequent want and need of a
dime taught him to realize the value of money, a lesson never forgotten during his subsequent career . He made most of
the footwear worn by the members of the family, and in every way did his part toward their support . He hauled wheat
from Delaware county to Sandusky City by team, a distance of seventy-five miles, and sold it at sixty cents per bushel .
In 1848, when unable to command a single dollar, he hired to Adam Wolfe to peddle fanning mills, retaining the
position for two years, receiving for the first year eight dollars per month and expenses, which was increased to fifteen
dollars the second year. Even at this small compensation he managed to save some money, and in the fall of 1849
formed a partnership with his employer under the firm name of F. H. Foust & Co., for the manufacture of fanning mills.
This association was maintained without interruption until the death of Mr. Wolfe in 1892 at Muncie, Indiana.
At the time the above mentioned partnership was consummated, Mr. Foust came to Columbia City, rented a
room and began the manufacture of fanning mills, the firm continued this enterprise for three years. In 1852 the firm
purchased a stock of dry goods, valued at about ten thousand dollars, and opened a store which the partners operated
about nine years. Mr. Foust hired an experienced buyer to accompany him to New York to purchase the original stock,
but subsequently attended personally to all purchases. The firm retired from the mercantile business to engage in other
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
lines in which the senior partner. Franklin H. Foust, especially was destined to achieve a notable success. Mr. Foust for
some time did a collecting and banking business of a modest order. During the war he received deposits, and the
confidence which was placed in him is shown by the fact that his system of accounts consisted in merely making a note
of how much he received and from whom, making no charge for his services. In this way he had in his old-fashioned,
large, fireproof safe at one time deposits aggregating sixty thousand dollars. Realizing the necessity as the town grew, he
opened a private banking house in 1867 in partnership with Mr. Wolfe. This enterprise prospered and became in time
one of the most reliable financial concerns in northeastern Indiana, its conservative management gaining public
confidence and making it widely known. The firm acquired ownership of about one thousand acres of land contiguous
to the city, of which three hundred acres were brought under cultivation, the remainder being devoted to pasturage. In
April, 1904, the bank was organized a? The Columbia City National Bank, Mr. Foust being made president. About this
time the properties of Foust & Wolfe were divided, Mr. Foust retaining about seven hundred acres of land, •all personal
property, and the banking building for his share, the balance going to the Wolfe estate. Later he sold the bank building
to the bank. He still continues to take much interest in agriculture.
In 1850, Mr. Foust was married at Columbia City to Maxia Jones. They have no children. Mr. Foust is a
Republican and although never a seeker of official preferment, has rendered hearty support to the party whose principles
he advocates.
As a pioneer banker of Whitley county, within whose limits no man is better known, and enjoying the
confidence and respect of men, a particular interest attaches to the career of Mr. Foust. At the age of sixteen he was
found buying and selling with as much confidence as a man of the world, exercising his mental powers to a
proportionate degree in the little sphere within whose narrow limitations his life was bounded at the time. Finally,
overwork told upon a constitution none too rugged, and on the advice of a kindly physician who told him his only hope
for life and health laid in abandoning the farm, he contracted with Mr. Wolfe to peddle fanning mills and continued to
work under this contract for one year. Before taking a position with Mr. Wolfe for the second year, he contemplated
going to California, but afterward gave up this idea. He had also been offered thirty dollars per month by one Bohart, of
Mansfield, Ohio, to enter his employ in the fanning mill business; but notwithstanding the temptation of this offer and
looking to the future and placing implicit confidence in the honesty of Mr. Wolfe, Mr. Foust accepted his terms, fifteen
dollars per month, a decision he has never had cause to regret. The two gentlemen in their long and pleasant business
associations accumulated a fine property, including four fine business blocks, besides much other property in the line of
suburban and farm realty. To such men all honor is due and to them it is seldom denied.
Pages 486-487:
JOHN D. SHERWOOD
From reliable data the branch of the Sherwood family to which John D. belongs appears to have descended
from one of three brothers who came to America from England prior to the war for independence. His direct
ancestor entered the American army in the Revolution and was either killed in battle or, died in the hospital, as
nothing definite could afterward be learned concerning him. His son, Adaiah Sherwood, settled in Virginia, where
he reared sixteen children, one of whom was David, whose birth occurred in 1802, and who in 1829, settled in Delaware
county, Ohio, where he died January 23, 1873. James J. Sherwood, son of David, was born in Delaware county, Ohio,
February 27, 1829, and at seventeen learned the tanner's trade. Later he started a tannery of his own in his native
county, but in a few years closed out the business and in the fall of 1871, moved to Thorncreek township, Whitley
county, buying a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, where he died January 29, 1873. Caroline Seaman, wife of
James D. Sherwood, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, came to America with her parents when thirteen and was
married in Ohio. She died August 30, 1875. Their four children living are John D., Lewis Edward, Margaret, who
married James Maine, of Morrow county, Ohio, and Presley R., a farmer of Union county, Ohio.
John D. Sherwood was born August 24, 1853, in Delaware county, Ohio, and at the age of nineteen came with
his parents to Whitley county, where he has since lived. He taught school during the four years after his arrival, and
subsequently, in 1875, he purchased the interests of his brothers and sister in the homestead and for thirty years
thereafter devoted his attention wholly to the operation of the farm, meeting with the success that generally comes to
intelligently directed effort. The better to devote his attention to the manufacture of brick and drain tile, in which he
and his son had become interested, he, in 1905, removed to Columbia City. As manufacturers of brick and tile the
Sherwoods have achieved wide repute, there being but few farms within Whitley county that have not profited by the
product of their kilns, the local demand exceeding their capacity. Mr. Sherwood is an enterprising, wide-awake business
man of progressive ideas and as manager of the oldest and largest industry of the kind in Whitley county has done much
to advance the country's material interests.
On February 22, 1875, Mr. Sherwood was married to Miss Jennie Sherwood, of the same family, their
grandfathers having been brothers. Mrs. Sherwood was an efficient and popular teacher and a lady whose urbanity and
culture have made her highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood have one son, Justus J., who
Page 17
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
was born July 22, 1876, and who is a partner in the brick and tile business. Justus J. Sherwood graduated from the
Columbia City high school and taught school in Thorncreek township, when he took charge of the tile factory, having
since devoted himself to that work, proving a capable, straightforward business man. Actively interested in public
matters, he visited the Republican national convention in Chicago that placed Mr. Roosevelt in nomination for the
presidency. Mr. Sherwood is a Republican, and in 1888, was chosen township trustee though in a normally strong
Democratic township. But one trustee before him had been a Republican and none has been so chosen since. He is a
Methodist and a contributor to the support of the church.
Pages 487-489:
THOMAS R. MARSHALL.
In glancing over the biographical history of the western states, any man who has not thought upon the
tendencies of our popular institutions would be astonished at the number of prominent men who have raised themselves
to high places of power and usefulness by their unaided energies. This fact, while it is a source of honest pride in every
American heart, also teaches a lesson of deep philosophy. It enables every right thinking man to rise in his own
estimation and to put a just estimate upon his own intrinsic worth. It proves to him that the seeds of ability and virtue
have not been hoarded up for a favored few, but have been sowed broadcast among the people. Though all cannot gain
the highest point, every effort to attain it is an advance towards the great end of individual and national prosperity and a
benefit alike to the public, as well as to the individual that makes the effort.
The subject of this review has earned a place in the honorable company of self made men and stands four
square to all the world, with a true conception of the responsibility of citizenship and a comprehensive grasp of those
great questions and issues which test the standing of men in a free and enlightened commonwealth. When a mere boy
he learned the great truth which so many fail to grasp, that energy is talent and time is capital, and throughout a long and
satisfactory career he has acted upon this knowledge with constant and unvarying success.
Thomas R. Marshall occupies a position in the front rank of the northern Indiana bar, while his eminent legal
abilities and long and distinguished service in the practice of his profession have won for him an endearing fame
throughout the state in which he has achieved such signal honors. Long a member of the leading law firm of Columbia
City and ever active in promoting measures for the public good, he has become widely and favorably known among the
people of his own and neighboring counties.
Mr. Marshall is a native of Indiana and dates his birth from the I4th day of March, 1854, being a son of Daniel
M. and Martha A. (Patterson) Marshall, who were both descended from ancestry which has been illustrious in the
country since a period antedating the war for American independence. Indeed some of his antecedents were quite
prominent in colonial affairs and later a distinguished member of his family, John Marshall, who served in the
Revolutionary struggle, became chief justice of the United States and one of the world's greatest and most
honored jurists. The paternal grandfather of the subject was Riley Marshall, who came to Indiana from Greenbrier
county, Virginia, in an early day and settled in Grant county, where he acquired six hundred and forty acres of land, on
which the city of Marion now stands. He was an honored pioneer, took an influential part in the growth and
development of the above county, after the Organization of which he was elected the first clerk of the circuit court. The
mother's family also includes the names of a number of men who achieved honorable distinction, among them being
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, a hero of the Revolution and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Rev.
Charles Elliott, D. D., LL. D., president of the Western Theological Seminary in the city of Pittsburg, was her uncle and
one of her cousins, Rev. Lynn Milligan, chaplain of the state prison of Pennsylvania, has earned world-wide repute as a
reformer, spending his entire salary to advance the interest of the work in which he is engaged. Daniel M. Marshall, the
subject's father, a native of Indiana, studied medicine when a young man and in 1849 located at Wabash. this state,
where he practiced for a short time, and then moved to Lagrange, Missouri. He was a politician of more than local
repute, a firm and unwavering Democrat of the Jeffersonian school and after changing his residence to Missouri became
actively interested in public and political affairs and made his influence felt as a zealous and efficient party leader. As the
result of a personal altercation, with a man by the name of Duff Green, he was forced to leave Missouri and, returning
to Indiana, took up his residence in Kosciusko county, where he lived until his removal to Columbia City in 1874. He
retired from the practice of his profession in that year and spent the remainder of his days in honorable retirement,
departing this life in 1892. Dr. Marshall was not only a learned and successful physician, but stood high in the esteem of
the public in his different places of residence. Personally he enjoyed great popularity, and by his pleasant, genial manner
won and retained many warm friendships among those with whom he associated. In addition to his activity and
influence as a politician, he was long deeply interested in the Masonic fraternity, with the sound and sublime principles
of which his daily life harmonized. Mrs. Marshall was a native of Pennsylvania and a lady of -refinement and varied
culture. She was also noted for rare beauty and for those charms of person and manner that made her a favorite in the
high social circles in which she moved and which her graces adorned. Even at the time of her death, which occurred on
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1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
December 9, 1894, at the age of sixty-four years, she had lost little of her prepossessing appearance, and her beauty of
face and form were rivaled only by her nobility of character and sterling worth. The family of Dr. and Mrs. Marshall
consisted of only two children, a daughter who died in infancy in Wabash county, and the gentleman whose name
furnishes the caption of this article.
Thomas R. Marshall grew up under the sturdy and invigorating discipline of an excellent home and, being
blessed with superior parentage, his life early received the correct bent and impetus which in due time developed into a
symmetrical, well-rounded character. In the public schools which he attended during the years of his boyhood he
received his elementary education, but possessing a positive and self-reliant nature, and not being satisfied with the
limited opportunities thus afforded him. he subsequently entered Wabash College at Crawfordsville, where he
prosecuted his studies until completing the full course, graduating in 1873 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Three
years later the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. Having early manifested a decided preference for the
law, Mr. Marshall began his preliminary study of the same at Columbia City in the office of Hon. Walter Olds, late of the
supreme bench, under whose instruction he continued until his admission to the bar in 1875, the day he was twenty-one
years old. He at once entered upon the active duties of his profession and soon made his presence felt as a learned, able
and discriminating lawyer, receiving in due time his full share of legal business, besides winning a conspicuous place
among his fellow attorneys of the local bar. During the first two years he was alone in the practice, but in 1877, he
became a member of the firm of Marshall & McNagny, which rapidly forged to the front as one of the strongest legal
partnerships in northern Indiana, and which in point of continuous existence is now the oldest, as well as one of the
most successful firms of the kind in Indiana, its style at this time being Marshall, McNagny & Clugston. the last named
gentleman becoming a member a short time after the year indicated above. The practice of this old and reliable firm
takes a very wide range and the patronage, which is large and lucrative, is confined principally to the best class of people
of Whitley and adjacent counties, in addition to which the different members are not infrequently retained in important
cases in other and more remote parts of the state. For a number of years no case of importance has been tried in the
courts of Whitley county in which they have not appeared as counsel, and among litigants there has long been a rivalry
as to who should be first to arrive at their office. Mr. Marshall has served both as city and county attorney and by reason
of his high professional standing and eminent fitness, he was universally recommended by bench and bar to succeed
Judge Olds on the supreme bench, but matters over which his friends had no control prevented him from being chosen
to this high station. As a lawyer sufficient has been stated in the foregoing lines to indicate Mr. Marshall's strong
mentality, ripe scholarship and thorough mastery of the basic principles of legal science and the ability to apply the same
to successful practice. He is easily the peer of any member of the Indiana bar, has long been recognized as a master
spirit among his professional brethren of Columbia City and Whitley county, and by reason of his distinguished career
he has achieved marked prestige in legal circles and reflected honor and credit on the state of his nativity. Personally Mr.
Marshall is a gentleman of unblemished reputation and strict integrity and his private character, as well as his public and
professional record, has ever been above criticism. He is a vigorous as well as an independent thinker and has the
courage of his convictions upon all subjects which he investigates. He is also strikingly original, prosecutes his
researches after his own fashion and cares little for conventionalism or for the sanctity attaching to person or place by
reason of tradition, artificial distinction or accident of birth. He is essentially cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the
people in all the term implies and in the best sense of the word a representative type of that strong virile Americanism
which commands and retains respect on account of inherent merit, sound sense and correct conduct. He has ever been
a close student, not only of his profession, but of all the leading questions and issues before the people, while his
knowledge of the world's best literature is both critical and profound. As an advocate he is strong, masterful and not
infrequently eloquent and before court or jury he presents the merits of his case in clear, concise, logical arguments and
with a command of pure, vigorous English. He makes a careful analysis of his cases, familiarizes himself with their every
detail before going to trial and by his thorough preparation and skill in conducting causes, as well as by his logical and
powerful appeals to juries, has made himself a formidable antagonist and one to be feared. He attributes much of his
success at the bar to his uniform popularity with courts and juries and to a strict adherence to the rules of conduct he
prescribed for himself at the beginning of his professional career, which are, never to misrepresent the facts of a case,
never to speak unless he has something of importance to say, and never repeat what has once been said. He has ever
kept in mind that although courts and juries are compelled to listen, persuasion is impossible when compulsion is
permitted to be felt. Hence he takes pains not to weary their patience, but addressing himself at once to the strong
points of his case, which he marshals in logical order, he makes his arguments clear, explicit and forcible, and when the
story is told he is done. In this respect, as well as in earnestness of manner and form of thought, he follows in the walk
of some of the most illustrious members of the American bar. Mr. Marshall has substantial interests in a number of the
leading industries of the city and county.
In Masonic circles Mr. Marshall is an honored and esteemed member and has risen to the highest standing in
the order, receiving the thirty-third degree on September 20, 1898. He has served as presiding officer in all the local
bodies and as grandmaster of the grand council of Indiana, and grand high priest of the grand chapter of Indiana, in all
of which high and honorable positions he has discharged his duties ably and faithfully. He also belongs to the Greek-
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1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
letter society, Phi Beta Kappa, which was originally organized in 1770 by the subject's granduncle, John Marshall, and
associates.
Mr. Marshall was married in Steuben county, Indiana, to Miss Lois Kimsey, October 2, 1895. She was a
daughter of William E. and Elizabeth (Dole) Kimsey, prominent citizens of Steuben county. The family are
Presbyterians in church relations.
Pages 532-534:
ELISHA SWAN.
The subject of this sketch is descended from ancestors that came to America in the time of the colonies and
were actively identified with the history of the localities in which they settled. His great grandfather on the paternal
side was a native of Holland and for some time connected with the marine service of the country, later
becoming Captain of an American merchantman which after many years of trade was lost at sea with all on
board, the commander going to the bottom with the vessel. He settled in Maryland prior to the war of the
Revolution, and there reared a family, among his children being a son by the name of Henry Swan, who was born in
Queen Ann county, in the year 1757. The Washington and Swan families were near neighbors and when George
Washington was drilling the provincial militia preparatory to the War of Independence, he secured young
Henry Swan as fifer, paying him three shillings per day for his services. Later Mr. Sawn removed to
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he remained four years and at the expiration of that time migrated to Wayne
county, Ohio, in 1815, being one of the first three settlers in what is now Sugarcreek township, when, he entered land,
cleared a farm and became one of the leading citizens of his community. He was married in his native state to Lamenta
Davis, a relative of the family of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern confederacy, and became the father of ten
children, all of whom have died.
William H. Swan, son of Henry Swan and father of the subject of this review, was born August 12, 1805, in the
District of Columbia. He married when a young man Harriet Merriman, whose birth occurred in Wayne county, Ohio,
in the year 1817, and in 1865 he moved to Whitley county, Indiana, settling in the woods of Washington township on
the place now owned by the subject. In due time he cleared and improved this farm, made a good home where he spent
the remainder of his life, dying in 1893, his wife preceding him to the grave in 1865. Of the eleven children born to this
estimable couple, six grew to maturity, five of the number living at the present time. The mother of Mrs. Henry Swan
belonged to an old and highly esteemed family that was connected with a number of distinguished people, among the
number being Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of America's greatest philosophers and literary men.
Elisha, one of the five surviving children of William H. and Harriet Swan, was born February 9, 1846, in Wayne
county, Ohio, and there spent his childhood and youth at the parental home, becoming inured to farm labor at an early
age. In 1865 he accompanied his parents upon their removal to Whitley county, Indiana, and for some years thereafter
assisted his father in clearing and developing the farm in Washington township, since which time he has resided on the
farm he now owns. He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and his success has been commensurate with the
intelligence and energy displayed in his chosen calling, being at this time one of the representative farmers and stock
raisers of his township, owning seventy-eight acres of land.
Mr. Swan is a well educated and widely read man and his opinions on current events and the issues of the day
have weight and influence among the friends and neighbors with whom he is accustomed to associate. In his younger
days he was for several years one of the successful teachers of Whitley county, and has always been a friend of popular
education, and an earnest advocate of all measures for its dissemination among the people. In politics he is a Republican
and in religion a members of the Universalist church. Mr. Swan has been a diligent worker and judicious manager and
having made all he possesses merits the proud American title of "Self-made Man." He was married in 1869 to Miss Ruth
Anna Bell, daughter of Robert S. and Chloe (Hadley) Bell, natives of New York and among the early comers of Whitley
county, settling here as long ago as 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have had two children, Theodore H., who died in
childhood, and Diadem, who is now the wife of Dale White, of Forest, this county.
Pages 567-568
ISAAC WYNKOOP.
We have here an example, not infrequent in our free and prosperous country, of a rise from direct poverty to
wealth and affluence by the simple expedient of the hardest kind of work, accompanied by genuine business ability and
thrift. In the second decade of the last century John Wynkoop, a poor shoemaker, lived in the western part of
Pennsylvania. He had managed to get together enough to buy a small farm, had married Ann McClure, like himself a
native of York county, by whom he had eight children : Matthew, Hetta Ann, David, Margaret, Elizabeth, Isaac, Martha
Jane and one deceased in infancy.
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References to the American Revolution
Isaac Wynkoop, the second child and the only one living, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania,
January 22, 1825. In boyhood he managed to pick up a meager education in the poor schools of that day and as he grew
to manhood was engaged in hard work as his share toward furnishing a livelihood for the household. When about
twenty-seven years old he determined to try his fortunes in the west and in September, 1852, found himself in the then
small town of Columbia City, the county seat of Whitley. For a year after arriving he worked by the day and month and
then leased a piece of wild ground from the Adams estate, which he spent the next five years in cultivating. By this time
he had saved enough money to buy forty acres in Troy township, which he cleared, improved and eventually sold to buy
another tract of forty-eight acres. So he went on and as he prospered added more and more to his holdings until he
owned one hundred and sixty-eight acres, but this was reduced by gifts to his children until his present home place
consists of eighty-eight acres of well improved land five miles northwest of Columbia City. When he landed in
Columbia City, Mr. Wyncoop had only $25, and the difference between that small sum and his present estate marks the
credit due him for his successful achievements, as every dollar he now owns is the result of his own hard and persistent
labor during all these years.
In December, 1853, Mr. Wynkoop married Mary Ann, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Arnold, all natives of
Pennsylvania, who came to Whitley county in the year 1852. Mrs. Wynkoop died in 1898, after becoming the mother of
five children: John Monroe, deceased; Lavina, wife of Harrison McCloud, of Troy township; William A., married Rhoda
M. Beard, and owns a farm adjoining his father; Franklin David is still with his father; one child died in infancy. Mr.
Wynkoop, now in his eighty-third year, is spending the evening of life alone with his son on the old homestead in Troy
township. He has been a lifelong Republican, believing firmly in those principles for which his father fought in 1812
and his grandfather in the revolution. His vacations have been devoted to fishing, a sport in which he finds greatest
enjoyment. He has had but one lawsuit, and that when cheated out of his wages.
Page 568-569:
JAMES P. BILLS.
The family of this name, well known in Whitley county, is of patriotic stock and has been represented at the
front in the two great crises of the nation. Alvin Bills, who was a native of New York, enlisted as a soldier at the
beginning of the revolutionary war and served through the seven years of that memorable struggle. He settled
subsequently in Pennsylvania, where he was prominent as a teamster and from which state his son Asa, and wife Elisa,
emigrated to Illinois in 1844. Being dissatisfied with the outlook in the Prairie state, they remained a few weeks and then
returning east to Franklin county, Ohio, remained until 1861. In the spring of that year, they came to Whitley county
and settled in Troy township. This was his theater of action until his death, which occurred April 23, 1898, his wife
surviving until February 21, 1901. He was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian church, of which his wife was also
a member. Originally a Whig, he was much opposed to slavery and when the Republican party was organized, he
became identified with it, ever after remaining among its loyal adherents. Eight children were born to this pioneer
couple. Warren, who died at seventy in Troy township; Olive, deceased wife of Edmund Johnson, of Pennsylvania:
Lucy, deceased wife of Henry Kile, of Troy township: Rosetta, deceased wife of James Hinkle and Rosella, her twin
sister, deceased wife of Clinton Noble.
James P. Bills, fourth of this family, was born on Muchinick creek, Illinois, January 17, 1844, during the .brief
residence of his parents in that state. He grew up on the farm in Franklin county, Ohio, where he attended the common
schools and spent three years at the Central College of Ohio, near Columbus. When his parents came to Indiana, the
Civil war was opening and James, though only sixteen years old, enlisted in 'Company B, Forty-fourth Regiment Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until 1863 and then veteranized by re-enlisting in the same command, with
which lie remained until the end of hostilities, serving four years in all. He saw much hard service and participated in the
.battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Chickamauga, Peach Orchard, Lookout Mountain, Franklin and Nashville,
besides numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes. He escaped without a wound or being taken prisoner, but was
in the hospital some time with typhoid fever. On returning home he bought a farm, then known as the Jamison farm in
Troy township, and went to work with a resolution to do his share in improving the country, while building up his own
fortunes. In 1881 he purchased the place in Thorncreek township where he makes his present home, hut in addition to
this owns eighty-eight acres in Troy township, and also ten acres in a separate body in Thorncreek. It was a new place,
demanding a vast amount of work, making in all one hundred and forty acres. He lives in a comfortable residence of
nine rooms, modernly constructed, with all conveniences, while the barn and other outbuildings are in keeping. He has
kept high grade stock but general farming covers his business. His farm, with well kept fences and neat general
appearance, indicates the supervision of a careful and up to-date farmer. After retiring from the army, Mr. Bills spent
one year in Iowa and returning to Indiana was married at Larwill in 1868 to Martha, daughter of Robert and Catherine
Elliott, of Troy township, old settlers of the county, now deceased. By this union there were four children: Otho; Pearl,
who died in infancy; Horton. who married Blanche Workman and operates one of his father's farms, and Mabel, wife of
John Kenner. The mother died in 1887 and February 2, 1888. Mr. Bills married Carrie, daughter of Joseph and Frances
Page 21
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
(Black) Brunner, old residents of this county. They were born and reared in the same village in Switzerland and came
direct to Columbia City after marriage about 1852. He was an expert shoemaker, worked at Cincinnati and then opened
a shop at Larwill, where his family was reared. About 1874 he removed to a farm in Thorncreek, where his wife died
about 1886. He married Mrs. Monroe and removed to Columbia City, both dying within a few days of each other in
1899, his age being seventy-four years. By his last marriage, Mr. Bills has two children. Sylvia Spray and Mary Frances,
both at home. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Troy township. Mr. Bills is a
Republican.
Pages 592:
MARTIN L. GALBREATH.
The Galbreath family originated in Scotland. The first authentic record is in 1750 when three brothers from
Glasgow crossed the North Channel and settled in the little Irish village of Bellanahench, about twenty miles south of
Belfast. Their residence here was of short duration when they came to America and settled near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
One of them, the grandfather of our subject, took an active part on behalf of the government in the whisky
insurrection. He was a noncommissioned officer of the Continental army and did good service during the entire
Revolution. Religiously for several generations the Galbreath family has been identified with the Universalist church and
has adhered to the different political parties that have been in opposition to the Democracy, but the subject of this
sketch has been an active Democrat since his majority and his counsel and assistance are sought and given in each
campaign. While not a member of any church himself and family are regular attendants and supporters of the First
Presbyterian church in Columbia City.
Mr. Galbreath was born on the farm in •Kosciusko county May 12, 1858. While yet quite young his father
died, leaving a large family dependent on the mother. He made the most of conditions on the farm, attended the district
school and began teaching at nineteen. He worked his way through the Indiana State Normal, completing the course in
1878. For several years his work was teaching and he held the principalship in various towns, but located in 1883 on a
beautiful farm at Collamer, which he still owns. In the fall of 1890 he was elected trustee of Cleveland township,
brought order out of chaos and put the township, in good condition, financial and otherwise. Soon after the expiration
of his term as trustee he was appointed receiver for the Arnold bank and his work in closing the business of this
financial wreck attracted the attention of financiers, so that on the organization of the Provident Trust Company at
Columbia City in 1900 he was offered and accepted the position of manager. His conduct of this institution has been
eminently satisfactory to the patrons of this bank, as well as to its stockholders and officers. He has shown himself large
enough to master the various and comprehensive functions of this highly successful institution and has its business well
in hand. He is the best posted man on farm values and conditions in the county.
October 18, 1882, Mr. Galbreath was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Puterbaugh, of Peru, Indiana, and to
them have been born five children: Neva, a teacher in the Columbia City schools; Russell, just completing the high
school course; Mariae, a student in the high school; and Jamie and Walter, aged five and two years.
Pages 744-745
HENRY NORRIS.
The founder of the Whitley county family of this name was of English descent, the emigrant ancestor having
come over before the Revolutionary war, and subsequently was wounded while fighting in one of the battles
for independence. After the conclusion of hostilities, he settled in Virginia near Winchester and there his son William
was born in 1797. After growing up he married Margaret McCoy, born in Virginia in 1803, and some years later located
in Coshocton county, Ohio, of which section he became one of the early settlers. In 1843, the parents removed with
their family to Whitley county and bought two hundred and twenty-five acres of land in Richland township. This
location was one mile east of Whitley road, in section 22, and here they spent their lives in the occupation of fanning
until their respective deaths in 1872 and 1879. This couple had fourteen children, of whom four are living: Henry,
William J., Mrs. Elizabeth J. Hitchcock, and Margaret, wife of Jacob Gerhart, a resident of Illinois.
Henry Norris, eldest of the surviving children, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, February 1, 1837. He
grew up on the farm and lived at the old place for a number of years after the death of his parents. In 1897 he took
possession of the farm in section 5 in Richland township, where he is now residing. The place consists of two hundred
acres, of which one hundred and eighty are under cultivation, and Mr. Norris has made many improvements. In fact, he
is one of the progressive and up-to-date farmers of Whitley county, understanding the importance of rotating his crops,
keeping the land fertilized and other methods which bespeak the well informed agriculturist. Mr. Norris raises
Shorthorn cattle, Poland-China hogs and other valuable live stock, the feeding of which has proved profitable. Mr.
Norris is a public spirited man, does his full share in developing his community and can always be depended upon to
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1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
support worthy causes. He is a Republican in politics and served a while as county commissioner. In February, 1865,
Mr. Norris enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served
until September of the same year with the Union forces in the Shenandoah valley, reaching the position of corporal of
his company.
In 1857 Mr. Norris married Derinda, daughter of John and Margaret (Casner) Wolford, early pioneers of Ohio
and residents of that state until death. By this union there were seven children: John S.; Francis E., wife of Samuel
Griffith, who lives at Etna Green, Indiana; Delila, deceased; Winnie M., deceased in early life; Alice M., struck by a
railroad train and killed while crossing the track; Marcus married Myrtle Martin and lives on his father's farm; Lottie died
at the age of nineteen. In 1895 Mr. Norris was married a second time to Jennie E., daughter of James Cordill, who is his
present wife. He is a member of the Baptist church and of the Grand Army of the Republic at South Whitley.
Page 768-769:
WILLIAM S. NICKEY.
Among the emigrants from Germany to the United States in 1/69, were three brothers named Nickey, one of
whom died on the ocean and another became a soldier in the Revolution, participating in the battle of Long
Island. After the war he settled in Virginia and reared a family, one of whom was Samuel. He enlisted for service in the
war of 1812 and died February 17, 1832. He married Anna Balsley, a native of Pennsylvania, by whom he had eleven
children: John, Mary Ann, Samuel, David, Christian, Jacob, Julia Ann, Rose Ann, Catherine, Rebecca and Henry.
The widow Nickey removed soon after her husband's death with her children to Ross county, Ohio, where she
remained six years and in 1838 came to Whitley county, settling in Smith township, with which her descendants have
ever since been closely identified. .This devoted mother made her home with her son David until her death in 1861.
Jacob Nickey, her sixth child, was born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1814. In 1834 he married Elizabeth Briggs, a
native of Ross • county, Ohio, who died in 1844 after becoming the mother of six children: Elizabeth, the eldest, is the
wife of Alexander Moore, of Union township; Rose, wife of George Perry, lives in Noble county; Ruhamah married J.
O. Long, of Smith township, but both are now dead; Sarah is the wife of William Krider, of Smith township; Clarissa,
wife of Lewis Metsker, also in Smith township. Allen S. lives in Tipton county. In January. 1849, Jacob Nickey married
Catherine (Crabill) Frederick, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, October 29, 1821, and is now living with
W. S. in the enjoyment of excellent health at the age of eighty-five. Her father, William C. Crabill, removed to Whitley
county and settled on a farm in Smith township. Jacob Nickey developed a farm in Smith township which he operated
until his death in 1892, and built on it the first frame house in Whitley county. He was a practical business man and was
chosen trustee of Smith township and commissioner of the county several terms.
By the second marriage there were four children: William S., Mary N. (deceased) wife of Nathaniel Metsker;
Austin, deceased ; and Jacob W., now of Buffalo, New York.
William S. Nickey was born on the paternal farm November 3, 1849. He has spent his whole life in the same
locality and until recently has lived on the old homestead, three miles southwest of Churubusco. He is a Democrat and
has long been an important factor in the public life of his county. In 1888 be was elected county commissioner, was reelected and devoted careful attention to the affairs of the public, proving himself a most, conscientious and capable
official. The old home farm, consisting of two hundred acres, is well improved with first-class buildings and its
cultivation has yielded a satisfactory income. Stock breeding, growing and feeding has been a leading feature. He has
ever been much interested in church and Sunday school work, frequently giving oversight to religious and charitable
affairs and for seven years continuously was superintendent of the Sunday school at Churubusco. October 17, 1878, Mr.
Nickey married Jennie, daughter of John J. and Rachel (Daugherty) Mossman, natives of Ohio, who passed the greater
part of their lives on a farm in Wabash county. Mrs. Nickey was born December 5, 1849, an died February 20, 1892.
She was the mother of seven children: Inez R., Lan H., Lee F., Rheua, Lena Z., Ella M., and Orpha, who died in infancy.
All the living children remain at home, Inez being a teacher. The family are members of the United Brethren church, at
Churubusco, and are among the most highly respected citizens of the county. Mr. Nickey has recently purchased and
remodeled a neat residence on Main street, Columbia City, retiring from the personal demands of the farm.
Pages 806-807
ALBERT BUREL TUCKER.
There are few people in Whitley county who have not heard of the gentleman whom we are now to briefly consider.
Not only has he been a long-time resident, but an extensive landowner, a breeder and dealer in fine stock, and of much
more than ordinary importance in financial affairs. His ancestors were early in Rhode Island, some of the descendants
removing to New York soon after the Revolution and settling along the historic Hudson and in a region made
memorable by incidents of that remarkable struggle.
Page 23
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the American Revolution
From both his father's and mother's families, Mr. Tucker is descended from Colonial and Revolutionary stock.
In the eastern part of the country his forebears have been prominent and have taken active parts in the life and business
of their communities. His grandfather, Nathan Tucker, a Quaker, who was a victim of early persecution, was born at
New Bedford, Massachusetts. The family is descended from pure English stock, and Nathaniel Tucker, of the famous
"Tucker House," a place visited by many tourists, was a brother of the great grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
The family's history in this country dates from the coming of three brothers from England as settlers in the new country.
These brothers were Nathaniel, Jabez and Joshua. His mother's family is correspondingly illustrious. His maternal great
grandfather came to this country as a drummer boy in Burgoyne's army. Her father, James Parker, was born in
Greenwich, Washington, New York, November 29, 1788. He served as a captain of cavalry in the war of 1812, was a
deacon in the Baptist church, which at that time had a membership of about seven hundred, and died October 6, 1851.
James Parker married Sarah Weaver, born in Providence, Rhode Island, October 7, 1793, and twelve children were the
result of the union. All grew to maturity, the first to die reaching the age of forty-two years. Mrs. Alanson Tucker's
grandfather, Richard Parker, was born in Rhinebeck, Duchess county, New York, December 6, 1765. He served as a
soldier through the Revolutionary war enlisting as a drummer boy when a mere youth. After the war he settled in
Washington county, New York. The father of Mr. Alansorr Tucker was born in Greenwich, February 15, 1809. He was
married to Louisa Teresa Parker, who was born in Argyle, New York, July 31, 1812, and who died at Etna, Whitley
county, Indiana, November 12, 1897.
In childhood both Anson and wife were playmates with Chester A. Arthur, whose father was the pastor of the
Baptist church at Greenwich. Removing to Ohio in 1849, he remained five years and in 1854 came to Whitley county,
where he purchased four hundred acres of woodland in Etna township, the location of the home being close to the
village. His efforts were thenceforth directed to the development of a farm. Anticipating the great increase in the
demand for walnut lumber, he purchased a large amount of that timber and holding it a few years was enabled to realize
the advance in price, selling lumber at eighty dollars per thousand. His every venture was successful, so that his energies
resulted in the accumulation of a handsome estate. He died in 1869, his companion surviving till -1897, aged eighty-five.
He was a Whig and later a Republican and served his township as trustee.
In early life he was a contractor in building canal locks and other stone work. He was fearless under all
circumstances, one instance illustrating his character. Mason Long, in his "Converted Gambler," gives Mr. Tucker credit
for breaking up an organized gang of thieves at Fort Wayne, who plied their nefarious calling in collusion with the police
force. The leader, Ryan, secured Tucker's purse by the assistance of an accomplice. Tucker was armed, as he knew of
the gang's depradations. He shot Ryan, one shot taking effect in the neck after glancing from the collar-button. He
forced a policeman at the point of the revolver to crawl under a house where Ryan had hid and dislodge him and
followed the two to the station-house, covering them with his weapon. Ryan was finally sent to the penitentiary for two
years and the gang was broken up.
Mr. Tucker was about ten years old when he became a "wild westerner" by reason of his parents' transfer of
residence from New York to the Hoosier state. The schools of the day, especially in the country sections, were poor
avenues to education even for those most anxious to learn, but Albert, by occasional attendance at the old log cabin,
managed to pick up the rudiments that were the basis of a wide practical education. At the death of his father he
inherited part of the four hundred acres and this has been the scene of his activities as well as the basis of his fortune.
He owns about three hundred acres, most of which is in a high state of cultivation and brought to an advanced state of
fertility by his untiring labors. In 1869 he erected a handsome and commodious house on the farm at the village of
Etna, which is regarded as one of the best in the township. The outbuildings, fencing, roads, facilities for feeding and
watering, indeed all the features are such as to indicate a progressive guiding hand. Mr. Tucker is a breeder of Percheron
horses and takes commendable pride in the mammoth draft animals of his stables, the result of careful selection and
judicious training. He also breeds and deals extensively in cattle and sheep, ranking well among live stock men of the
county both in quantity and quality of his stock. Mr. Tucker has other financial interests, especially in making loans and
investments. He is a stockholder and director in the Columbia City National Bank. He is a member of the Baptist
church, belongs to the Odd Fellows' lodge, is a Republican and has served as trustee of the township.
In 1898 Mr. Tucker married Miss Mary M., daughter of Milo and Catherine (Bowersock) Lawrence, former
residents of Allen county, but now living in Thorncreek township of Whitley. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker have one son,
Lawrence L.
Page 24
1907 History of Whitley County
War of 1812
Page 213:
Among those who have lived in Whitley county who served in the war of 1812 was David Hemmick, who was
orderly under General Harrison. Thomas Walker, who lived west of Columbia City, served in a Virginia regiment, as did
James Jones, John Jackson, William James and a Mr. Maring were also soldiers in that memorable war.
Page 341-342
The body of Mrs. Albert Hatfield, mother of James M. Hatfield, of Huntington, has lain in this old cemetery
for more than forty years, and a few feet from her grave is the grave of her mother, Jane Dyer, who was born in Virginia
in 1784, and a few feet further away lies Sarah Jeffries, a half sister of Mrs. Hatfield, who was born on the first day of the
nineteenth century. Jane Dyer had a brother, Robert Buckles, who as a soldier in the army of General Anthony
Wayne in his campaign in 1793-4 against the forces of Little Turtle, when that great Indian chieftain was
defeated and routed, but the life of Robert Buckles, given up on the banks of the Maumee, was a part of the
price paid for that victory.
Elza Roberts, one of the pupils at the old red schoolhouse near by, became a soldier in the war of the rebellion,
but died in the service and his body was brought back and buried in this cemetery.
On Saturday, May 24, -1856, Flora Catharine Maring, daughter of Leonard S. Maring, died, aged eight years and one
month. The parents decided to bury their child on the home farm for the present and perhaps in the future the remains
could be removed to a more desirable spot. Accordingly, after a funeral service at the old family residence, on a
beautiful spring Sabbath morning, conducted by Rev. Keplinger, she was buried in what was then a corner of the woods.
Jackson Ihrig dug the grave and this was the beginning of Evergreen cemetery on section 18. Soon after, James Dun fee
and several others were buried there and it was decided to make the place a permanent burial ground, and Mr. Maring
and Minard Lefever each deeded to the public one-half acre of ground for that purpose. Some bodies were removed
from other places and re-interred there and the city of the dead has steadily grown until it now contains several hundred
graves.
Four soldiers of the war of 1812 were buried in Evergreen cemetery. They are, John Ihrig, who died
April 19, 1867, Zephaniah Bell, died March 29, 1876, Philip Maring, died September 17, 1879, and David
Jackson, who died in August, 1883, aged ninety-seven years.
Page 457-458:
JACOB A. RUCH
Jacob A. Ruch, retired business man of Columbia City, and one of the community's •well known and greatly
esteemed citizens, was born March 2, 1851, in Smith township, Whitley county, being one of the thirteen children that
constituted the family of Charles and Sarah A. (Fertig) Ruch. His paternal grandparents, Jacob and Hannah Ruch, were
natives of Pennsylvania, and it was in Northumberland county, in which his father was born, November 1, 1808, and
reared. In 1838, Charles Ruch married Sarah Ann Fertig, born July 7, 1819, and in 1845, moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana,
where he worked at his trade as cabinetmaker until 1849, when he came to Whitley county, settling in Smith township.
Six years later he moved to Columbia City, where he followed painting in connection with the livery business, and later
became a merchant. Charles Ruch was a public spirited man and a leader in the local Democracy, serving as postmaster
of Columbia City, during the administration of Pierce.
He died April 8, 1895; his wife died February 8, 1902. Of the large family that gathered once beneath his roof,
six only are living. Jacob Ruch was three years old when brought to Columbia City, and he assisted his father as soon as
his services could be utilized and at intervals attended the public schools. He soon became a painter, in connection with
which he helped in the livery, devoting his attention to these lines until the organization of the city fire department,
when he was placed in charge of the same, as well as the construction of water-works and all other city utilities. Mr.
Ruch continued at the head of the department at intervals for ten or twelve years, proving a faithful and efficient
fireman. He became deputy county treasurer under Joshua P. Chamberlain, upon whose death, while in office, he was
appointed by the board of commissioners to fill out the unexpired term. When John Gross was elected custodian of the
county funds, Mr. Ruch was again made deputy and continued as such until the expiration of that term, serving eight
years in all and gaining the confidence of the public. Mr. Ruch was then, in 1892, the Democratic nominee for county
treasurer, but with the rest of the candidates, suffered defeat in the general Republican landslide of that year. Mr. Ruch
organized the Whitley County Telephone Company, in which he was associated with Messrs. Peabody, Pontius, Adams
and Magley, the construction of the line falling to him. On the completion of the enterprise he took a contract to
1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
operate the same, and fitting up an office in his own business block, he continued in full control for six years, during
which time he also superintended the extension of the line and brought it to a high state of efficiency, making it meet the
expectation of the promoters and the public and fully answer the purpose for which intended.
In 1892 he resigned his position and, disposing of his interest in the company, retired from business, being
induced to take the step on account of failing health. October 26, 1875, Mr. Ruch was united in the bonds of wedlock
to Miss Edith A. Rhodes, daughter of John and Ann (Whitney) Rhodes, natives of Maryland and Ohio respectively. As
already stated, Mr. Ruch has been an active politician and for many years a leader and influential adviser of the local
Democracy, besides taking a prominent part in a number of state and national campaigns. The Presbyterian church
represents his religious creed, he having long been a valued member of the home congregation, and a liberal contributor
to the support of the gospel at home and elsewhere. His wife also belongs to the same church and like himself is deeply
interested in its success and progress. Mr. Ruch is an enthusiastic Mason, and as a Knight Templar has attended among
others the triennial conclaves in California, Denver and Louisville. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout
the United States, visiting all the leading points of interest, east, west, north and south, thus becoming familiar with the
magnitude of their country and the greatness of its people and institutions.
John Rhodes, Mrs. Ruch's father, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, November 9, 1814, his father having
been a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a millwright by trade and in 1841 moved to Columbia City, and purchasing a
lot at the corner of Chauncey and Van Buren streets, started a general store. He was an active and prosperous business
man and did much to promote the material growth of the city, erecting a number of buildings, among which is the large
Rhodes' brick block, containing three store rooms on the ground floor with several apartments above, which was put up
in the year 1890. This property is in the central part of the city and is one of the most valuable pieces of realty within the
corporation. Mr. Rhodes will long be remembered as one of the leading men of his day and generation in Columbia
City, having been liberal in the expenditure of his means to advance the interest of the municipality and public-spirited
to the extent of assisting all enterprises for the general welfare of his fellow citizens. He died March 11, 1904. Of the
four children of John and Ann Rhodes, but one, Mrs. Ruch, survives. Two daughters, Sarah E. and Alpharitta, died
young, and a son, Francis, who died1 March 25, 1898, aged fifty-six. Mrs. Rhodes, whose maiden name was Ann
Whitney, was born February 29, 1812, died November 22, 1874. She is well remembered as the landlady of the Rhodes'
Hotel, and her reputation as such made her house one of the most popular stopping places in northern Indiana.
Pages 464-466:
JAMES S. COLLINS
James S. Collins, deceased, late a resident of Columbia City and a distinguished and venerable member of the
Whitley county bar, is eminently worthy of representation in this volume, and the work might well be considered
incomplete were there a failure to direct specific attention to his life and its accomplishments.
Coming of one of the early pioneer families of the Hoosier state, and himself to be considered as a pioneer
resident of Whitley county. Mr. Collins was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on the 24th of December, 1819, being the
son of John and Jane (Holman) Collins, the former of whom was a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, both
being of the stanch old English stock. The father of the subject settled in Wayne county very early in the present
century, purchasing a tract of land from the government and devoting himself vigorously and successfully to its
reclamation. There he continued to abide until 1836, when he removed to Whitley county and settled in Cleveland
township, where he purchased a tract of land upon which some slight improvements had been made. There the family
home was maintained for many years. John Collins was a member of the state militia during- the war of 1812, and
the Mexican war, and he went forth to aid in preventing an uprising among the Indians, whose insubordination was a
feature of the memorable conflict. He was the first treasurer of Whitley county, becoming the incumbent in this office
at a time when there was no cash represented in its exchequer. His son, Richard, was the first sheriff of the county, and
soon became clerk, auditor and recorder, all .of which offices were combined so far as their executive was concerned.
The father and mother of the subject both died in Columbia City, each having lived to a ripe old age. They became the
parents of ten children, only two of whom are living at the present: Martha and Eliza.
The subject was reared under the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, aiding in the work of clearing one
hundred acres, and never having been enabled to attend school for a day after he had attained the age of sixteen years.
There had been enkindled in his mind, however, an appreciation of the privileges which were of necessity denied him,
and though his mental horizon was circumscribed, still he spared no effort to gain the knowledge, which, in an obscure
way, he knew would be so essential to his success in life. He had a few books, and to these he devoted his spare
moments at home. The intrinsic capacity of his mentality was shown forcibly in the fact that in the winter of 1843 he
boldly waded into the pages of Blackstone's commentaries, with a dictionary beside him as an aid to ascertain the
meaning and pronunciation of the "big words." Such was the power of assimilation that he possessed, that we find a
most notable victory achieved by the young man within a year's time, since in the fall of 1844 he passed an examination
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and was admitted to practice at the bar. Such accomplishment at so great odds reads almost like a romance in these
latter days when privileges are to be had for the acceptance, and when the way is made so smooth to the feet of the
average searcher after knowledge. It is a significant circumstance that the honored subject began the practice of his
profession in Columbia City, which point was the scene of his consecutive endeavors as an attorney at law from that
early day to the day of his death. His title to the rank as the pioneer lawyer of that city is unquestioned, and his name is
honored by the members of the bar to-day, as it has been through all the days of the past. The lot of the young lawyer
was not one of sybaritic ease or one that yielded much financial return for a long time, but his perseverance and his
ability eventually won him merited recognition in the according to him of representative clientage. In 1860, a
distinguishing honor was conferred upon Mr. Collins in his election to the state senate, which preferment was accorded
him without the formality of having intimated or suggested to him his candidacy. He was a member during the special
term of 1861, the war legislature, and his efforts were marked by a lively appreciation of the nation's peril and by an
earnest effort to support her time-honored institutions. In 1868 the demand for a new railroad was recognized by the
citizens of Whitley and other counties, and of the company which was organized to bring the project to a focus, Mr.
Collins was made president. This corporation completed what is known as the Eel River Railroad in 1873, and the
subject retained the presidency until after the road had been brought to completion. After that time he devoted his
attention entirely to his profession, although he withdrew to a large extent from the practice in the courts by reason of
the fact of his advanced age rendering such service too burdensome. This phase of the work he relegated almost entirely
to his associate in business," Benjamin E. Gates.
Mr. Collins owned a large tract of land contiguous to the city, and also had some valuable realty within the
corporate limits. During all the long years in which he was a witness of the advancement of Columbia City from a
straggling village to its present flourishing status as a progressive and modern city, the subject manifested a hearty
interest in the affairs of the place and the welfare of the county and was a prime mover in every enterprise which had as
its object the benefiting of the community. In political matters he was a stalwart Republican, and was an active and
zealous worker in the party ranks.
Turning in conclusion to the more purely domestic phases of Mr. Collins' life, we find that on October 24,
1849, was consummated his marriage to Eliza J. Fleming, a native of Londonderry, Ireland, and the daughter of John
and Frances Fleming. The offspring of this most happy union were six children, namely: Jane H., city librarian; Reginald
Heber, in Seattle, Washington: Dora, deceased ; Howard, deceased; Sophia, wife of John Wilson Adams, of Columbia
City; and William J., also of Seattle, Washington.
Even this brief review will be sufficient to afford an idea of the accomplishments of our honored subject, who
is well worthy of the title of a "self-made man," and whose actions ever stood in evidence of his sterling integrity and of
high principles which shaped his career. Among the people who knew him so long and so well he passed the golden
autumn of his life, secure in their esteem and confidence.
The close of this honorable and eventful life crowned with long years of successful service for the development
of his country and the elevation of mankind, came like a gentle evening breeze, and the noble and courageous spirit
answered the angel call and crossed the mystic river into the great beyond August 22, 1898. Mrs. Collins still resides in
the old home, though since Mr. Collins' death, Mrs. Collins has laid out ten acres in city lots
Pages 480-482:
FRANKLIN H. FOUST.
In modern times banks have constituted a vital part of organized society and governments have depended
upon them for material aid in times of depression and trouble. Their influence has extended over the entire world and
their prosperity has been a barometer which has infallibly indicated the financial status of all nations. Of this important
branch of business, Franklin H. Foust is a worthy representative. The story of his success is instructive as well as
entertaining, dealing as it does with a gradual rise from unpromising beginnings to a position of commanding influence
in the financial world.
Franklin H. Foust was born in Delaware county, Ohio, January 10, 1825. The paternal grandfather, Jacob
Foust, was born in Germany, and when a youth accompanied his father to the United States, settling in Cumberland
county, Pennsylvania, where the family became tillers of the soil. Jacob Foust removed to Delaware county, Ohio, being
one of the first settlers in that section.
He located where the city of Delaware now stands and constructed the first bridge across the river between
that point and Columbus. The family lived in their wagons until they could hew timbers and complete the erection of
the primitive log cabin which served as their domicile. The land was wild and the Indians still disputed dominion with
the incoming pioneers. Jacob Foust bore arms in the war of the Revolution and in recognition of his services
was awarded a pension, which he continued to draw until the time of his death. His son, Henry, who was born in
Pennsylvania, married Mary Olds, of the same state, in 1812, and settled ten miles north of Delaware where they began
housekeeping in a log cabin, typical of the place and period. He enlisted as a soldier in 1812, while his wife
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contributed what she could to the cause by doing camp work at Fort Norton. After the war they were reunited
and for more than sixty years lived happily on the farm which they had reclaimed from the wilderness, where both
eventually found graves. Henry Foust was a successful farmer and accumulated a competency. He was a man of strong
individuality and integrity of character and served many years as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. He
had nine children who grew to maturity, but the only survivors are Solomon and Franklin, the former a resident of
Atlanta, Kansas. Franklin Foust was reared on the old homestead in Ohio and bore his part in its reclamation and
cultivation. Schools were scarce and poor in those days, but he managed to acquire an elementary knowledge of the
ordinary English branches and arithmetic. In his boyhood he partially learned the shoemaker's trade at which he
frequently worked until twelve o'clock for the compensation of fifty cents a night. The frequent want and need of a
dime taught him to realize the value of money, a lesson never forgotten during his subsequent career. He made most of
the footwear worn by the members of the family, and in every way did his part toward their support. He hauled wheat
from Delaware county to Sandusky City by team, a distance of seventy-five miles, and sold it at sixty cents per bushel.
In 1848, when unable to command a single dollar, he hired to Adam Wolfe to peddle fanning mills, retaining the
position for two years, receiving for the first year eight dollars per month and expenses, which was increased to fifteen
dollars the second year. Even at this small compensation he managed to save some money, and in the fall of 1849
formed a partnership with his employer under the firm name of F. H. Foust & Co., for the manufacture of fanning mills.
This association was maintained without interruption until the death of Mr. Wolfe in 1892 at Muncie, Indiana.
At the time the above mentioned partnership was consummated, Mr. Foust came to Columbia City, rented a
room and began the manufacture of fanning mills, the firm continued this enterprise for three years. In 1852 the firm
purchased a stock of dry goods, valued at about ten thousand dollars, and opened a store which the partners operated
about nine years. Mr. Foust hired an experienced buyer to accompany him to New York to purchase the original stock,
but subsequently attended personally to all purchases. The firm retired from the mercantile business to engage in other
lines in which the senior partner. Franklin H. Foust, especially was destined to achieve a notable success. Mr. Foust for
some time did a collecting and banking business of a modest order. During the war he received deposits, and the
confidence which was placed in him is shown by the fact that his system of accounts consisted in merely making a note
of how much he received and from whom, making no charge for his services. In this way he had in his old-fashioned,
large, fireproof safe at one time deposits aggregating sixty thousand dollars. Realizing the necessity as the town grew, he
opened a private banking house in 1867 in partnership with Mr. Wolfe. This enterprise prospered and became in time
one of the most reliable financial concerns in northeastern Indiana, its conservative management gaining public
confidence and making it widely known. The firm acquired ownership of about one thousand acres of land contiguous
to the city, of which three hundred acres were brought under cultivation, the remainder being devoted to pasturage. In
April, 1904, the bank was organized a? The Columbia City National Bank, Mr. Foust being made president. About this
time the properties of Foust & Wolfe were divided, Mr. Foust retaining about seven hundred acres of land, •all personal
property, and the banking building for his share, the balance going to the Wolfe estate. Later he sold the bank building
to the bank. He still continues to take much interest in agriculture.
In 1850, Mr. Foust was married at Columbia City to Maxia Jones. They have no children. Mr. Foust is a
Republican and although never a seeker of official preferment, has rendered hearty support to the party whose principles
he advocates.
As a pioneer banker of Whitley county, within whose limits no man is better known, and enjoying the
confidence and respect of men, a particular interest attaches to the career of Mr. Foust. At the age of sixteen he was
found buying and selling with as much confidence as a man of the world, exercising his mental powers to a
proportionate degree in the little sphere within whose narrow limitations his life was bounded at the time. Finally,
overwork told upon a constitution none too rugged, and on the advice of a kindly physician who told him his only hope
for life and health laid in abandoning the farm, he contracted with Mr. Wolfe to peddle fanning mills and continued to
work under this contract for one year. Before taking a position with Mr. Wolfe for the second year, he contemplated
going to California, but afterward gave up this idea. He had also been offered thirty dollars per month by one Bohart, of
Mansfield, Ohio, to enter his employ in the fanning mill business; but notwithstanding the temptation of this offer and
looking to the future and placing implicit confidence in the honesty of Mr. Wolfe, Mr. Foust accepted his terms, fifteen
dollars per month, a decision he has never had cause to regret. The two gentlemen in their long and pleasant business
associations accumulated a fine property, including four fine business blocks, besides much other property in the line of
suburban and farm realty. To such men all honor is due and to them it is seldom denied.
Page 492-494::
BENTON ELI GATES.
The crowning glory of this Union is that the paths to wealth and to political, social and professional distinction
are open to all, and there are few whose careers better illustrate what can be accomplished by industry, energy and
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References to the War of 1812
integrity than the gentleman whose brief history is herewith presented. Benton Eli Gates, attorney at law, is descended
paternally from old English stock, but American in sentiment, as is attested by the gallant part taken in the war of 1812
by his great-grandfather, Thomas Gates, who fell in the attack on Baltimore while upholding the rights of his
adopted country. He left his native land in 1805 and in due time acquired all the rights and privileges of American
citizenship. He joined the army in 1812 and bore the part of a brave soldier, sealing with his blood his devotion to the
American cause. Eli S. Gates, son of Thomas, was born in Baltimore, in 1810, and when young emigrated to Hancock
county, Ohio, where he died in 1843. His wife was Eleanor Ann Gorsage. Their son, John T. Gates, was born in
Hancock county, in 1839, and is by occupation a plasterer. He married Sarah J. Eckert, born in Ohio, and of Scotch
descent. Sullivan Eckert, the father of Sarah J. Gates, was born and reared in Hancock county, Ohio.
Benton E. Gates was also born in Hancock county, Ohio, on the first day of December, 1863, and in 1872,
came to Whitley county, Indiana, with the history of which his life has since been very closely identified. He attended
school in Columbia City and also at Findlay, Ohio, later taking a course in the Methodist college in Fort Wayne. At the
age of eighteen he began to teach in Kosciusko county, and followed this occupation for several years, earning
recognition as an efficient and painstaking instructor. Mr. Gates was attracted to the law as best suited to his tastes, and
accordingly, in 1885, entered the office of Raymond & Royse at Warsaw, and was admitted to the Kosciusko county bar
in June, 1888. In April the year following he came to Columbia City and formed a partnership with John C. Wigent. In
1894 the firm was dissolved, Mr. Gates succeeding' to the business. Later Mr. Gates and Judge James S. Collins became
associated, which partnership continued until the death of the senior member in 1898.
In January, 1904, the firm of Gates & Whiteleather was formed. Mr. Gates served as deputy prosecuting
attorney from 1890 to 1892, and from 1895 to 1898, and from 1902 to 1905, inclusive, he was county attorney. He is
careful and painstaking and well versed in the fundamental principles of his profession. His achievements have been the
result of untiring industry, strict integrity and economy both of time and means, and he is therefore what may truthfully
be termed the architect of his own fortune. A Republican, he has rendered valuable service in a number of campaigns.
In 1902 he became a candidate for the judgeship. Whitley county remained loyal to him throughout the contest during
twenty-eight ballots, and he also succeeded in securing a number of delegates from Noble county, but failed of the
nomination by the vote of but a single delegate. Mr. Gates is now serving his third term as chairman of the Republican
central committee of the county, and as such has devoted much time and means in furthering the party's interest. He is
a skillful organizer, and leader, his ability along this line being cheerfully conceded by all of his political associates. In
1893 Mr. Gates assisted in organizing the Whitley County Building-Loan Association and was made its secretary, which
position he has since held. In 1904 he helped organize the Columbia City National Bank, of which he has remained a
stockholder and director.
On April 18, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gates and Miss Alice C. Fesler, daughter of George
and Sarah Fesler, of Kosciusko county, the father a popular local minister of the Methodist church and a pioneer of
Troy township, Whitley county, where he settled in 1843 and lived until 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Gates are the parents of
four children, John Elmer, Ralph Fesler, George Scott and Benton Earl.
Page 517-518;
CHARLES W. HIVELY.
This name has long been familiar in Whitley county by reason of the fact that the founder of the family was
among the early settlers and left numerous descendants. John Hively. who was a native of Licking county, Ohio, came
to Indiana in -what the pioneer historians call an ''early day" and entered one hundred and sixty acres of government
land in Thorncreek township and lived on the same until his death, which occurred at the early age of thirty-three. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Gradless. a soldier of the war of 1812 and one of the first settlers of Whitley
county. By this union there was born five children: Irvin, who died during the war, while a soldier of the Union army;
Henry Clay, a resident of Kansas; Charles W.; Matthew H., of Fort Wayne, and Noah, also a resident of Thorncreek
township. After her husband's death Mrs. Hively married Peter Shriner, one of the county's early settlers, by whom she
had four children: Mary, widow of Aaron Bair, a resident of Thorncreek township; John, of Columbia City; Lucinda,
deceased wife of Andrew Garty, and Sarah Elizabeth, who died in childhood. The parents were members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Charles W. Hively, third child of his mother's first marriage, was born November 15,
1846, and lived with his step-father until he became of age. Receiving forty acres of his father's original homestead he
lived on and farmed the same until 1876, when he bought the ninety acres which constitutes his present farm and has
been his home during the intervening years. November 6, 1868, he married Clara, daughter of Abraham Pence, who
died after bearing him four children: Webster, a fanner, of Thorncreek township; Cora E., wife of Albert Ansbaugh, of
Smith township; Leomar died at seven years and one who died in infancy. Mr. Hively's second marriage was to Delia,
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Pence) Vanhouten, a religious and accomplished woman, who proved a very congenial
companion to her husband. She was for twenty years- a licensed preacher of the United Brethren church and with the
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assistance of Mr. Hively did much evangelistic work. She died March 26, 1902. She served as pastor of various churches
including her home church. Her evangelistic work, assisted by her husband, covered much of St. Joseph conference
with satisfactory success. She is remembered as a fluent and able pulpit speaker which, supported by deep religious faith
and personal experience, made her an earnest and acceptable worker in the Master's cause. In her last years poor health
compelled retirement from more active duty but she never faltered in her one trust, dying with a blessed hope and
confidence.
They had one daughter, Frances E., who remains at home with her father. Mr. Hively contracted a third marriage with
Ella, daughter of Solomon Miller, one of the county's old settlers. Both were members of the United Brethren church
and for twenty six years Mr. Hively has been active in religious work, especially in connection with Sunday school work.
In politics he acts with the Prohibition party, as his principles make him an uncompromising opponent of the liquor
traffic.
Pages 568-569:
ISAAC WYNKOOP.
We have here an example, not infrequent in our free and prosperous country, of a rise from direct poverty to
wealth and affluence by the simple expedient of the hardest kind of work, accompanied by genuine business ability and
thrift. In the second decade of the last century John Wynkoop, a poor shoemaker, lived in the western part of
Pennsylvania. He had managed to get together enough to buy a small farm, had married Ann McClure, like himself a
native of York county, by whom he had eight children : Matthew, Hetta Ann, David, Margaret, Elizabeth, Isaac, Martha
Jane and one deceased in infancy.
Isaac Wynkoop, the second child and the only one living, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania,
January 22, 1825. In boyhood he managed to pick up a meager education in the poor schools of that day and as he grew
to manhood was engaged in hard work as his share toward furnishing a livelihood for the household. When about
twenty-seven years old he determined to try his fortunes in the west and in September, 1852, found himself in the then
small town of Columbia City, the county seat of Whitley. For a year after arriving he worked by the day and month and
then leased a piece of wild ground from the Adams estate, which he spent the next five years in cultivating. By this time
he had saved enough money to buy forty acres in Troy township, which he cleared, improved and eventually sold to buy
another tract of forty-eight acres. So he went on and as he prospered added more and more to his holdings until he
owned one hundred and sixty-eight acres, but this was reduced by gifts to his children until his present home place
consists of eighty-eight acres of well improved land five miles northwest of Columbia City. When he landed in
Columbia City, Mr. Wynkoop had only $25, and the difference between that small sum and his present estate marks the
credit due him for his successful achievements, as every dollar he now owns is the result of his own hard and persistent
labor during all these years.
In December, 1853, Mr. Wynkoop married Mary Ann, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Arnold, all natives of
Pennsylvania, who came to Whitley county in the year 1852. Mrs. Wynkoop died in 1898, after becoming the mother of
five children: John Monroe, deceased; Lavina, wife of Harrison McCloud, of Troy township; William A., married Rhoda
M. Beard, and owns a farm adjoining his father; Franklin David is still with his father; one child died in infancy. Mr.
Wynkoop, now in his eighty-third year, is spending the evening of life alone with his son on the old homestead in Troy
township. He has been a lifelong Republican, believing firmly in those principles for which his father fought in 1812
and his grandfather in the revolution. His vacations have been devoted to fishing, a sport in which he finds greatest
enjoyment. He has had but one lawsuit, and that when cheated out of his wages.
Pages 575-578:
RICHARD H. MARING
Richard H. Maring, who is numbered among the most prominent farmers and among the leading and
influential citizens of Whitley county, was born on the farm which is still his home on the I3th of April, 1859, and is a
worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Whitley county. His father, Leonard S. Maring, was
born in Richland county, Ohio, March 6, 1817, and was the son of Philip and Sarah (Lash) Maring, the former a native
of New Jersey and the latter of Virginia. Philip Maring was the son of Nicholas Maring, who emigrated from
Wurtemberg, Germany, about the year 1770 and settled in New Jersey. Philip Maring was a soldier in the war of
1812 and soon after the close of that war became one of the earliest settlers of Richland county, Ohio. In 1844, he came
with his family to Whitley county, Indiana, and located in Washington township where he spent his remaining years. His
wife died October 25, 1873, and Mr. Maring passed away September 17, 1879, aged ninety-one years, one month and
twenty days.
Having arrived at years of maturity, Leonard S. Maring was, on January 16, 1842, united in marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Bell, a native of Richland county, born August 21, 1820, and a daughter of Rev. Zephaniah and Margaret
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(Smith) Bell. The father was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and preached in Ohio for a good many years, after which, in
1845, he took up his residence in Whitley county, then on the frontier, where he continued his ministerial labors until his
death, March 29, 1876, aged eighty-five years. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812 and was one of the prominent
preachers of his day, most highly respected and winning friends everywhere. During his ministerial career he solemnized
many marriages and conducted a large number of funerals.
Leonard S. Maring, with his wife and a number of relatives, left Richland county, Ohio, with ox teams, October
3, 1843, and came to Whitley county, Indiana, being seventeen days on the journey, part of the way they had to cut their
way through the dense woods. Mr. Maring first settled in Washington township, but the following year removed to the
farm now owned by Richard H. Maring, in section 18, Jefferson township. Their first home was a log cabin in the midst
of an almost unbroken forest. As acre after acre was made ready for the plow, the tract of land was transformed from a
wild region into one of rich fertility and became one of the fine farms of the county. Mr. Maring took quite an active
interest in political affairs, was one of the early trustees of the township and was elected the first justice of the peace of
the township after its organization in 1845. Both he and his wife held membership with the Church of God, being
charter members of the local society known as the Evergreen Bethel church, in which he took quite an active part,
serving as trustee and as superintendent of the Sunday-school for a number of years. Both were estimable people whose
many excellent traits of character won the regard of all. The mother died July 8, 1880, and the father's death occurred
February 22, 1892. The family numbered six children, three of whom are now living: Amina, wife of Simon Bennet, of
Forest, Indiana; Flora C. who died at the age of eight years; Wealthy A.; Charles H., who died at the age of twenty-four;
Richard H. and an infant deceased.
Our subject is the only surviving son of the family. His childhood and youth were passed on the old
homestead, which is therefore dear to him from early associations as well as because it is the home of his later life. He
was educated in the district schools of his township, in the schools of Columbia City and was a student at the Northern
Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana, and at the age of eighteen years began teaching, being employed for five
terms in the public schools of Jefferson township. He took a course in penmanship in the Spencerian Business College
at Cleveland, Ohio, and also a course in an institution of penmanship at Delaware, Ohio, after which he organized and
taught classes in penmanship and subsequently was employed as a teacher of that branch of study in a business college at
Columbus, Ohio. He has since carried on farming and now has the old place under a high state of cultivation and
improved with the accessories and conveniences which go to make up a model farm.
On the 15th of May, 1884, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Maring to Miss Vallona Shinneman, a native of
Columbia City, born January 6, 1856, and a daughter of Adam and Vallona (Pond) Shinneman. Her parents both died
during her early childhood and she was reared by her grandfather, Isaac Shinneman, one of the early pioneers of Whitley
county, obtaining her education in the public schools of Columbia City. One child graces the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Maring, a daughter, Mayolo, who was born May 17, 1885, and on November 23, 1905, became the wife of Daniel
Tschantz, of Jefferson township.
Mr. and Mrs. Maring are not members of any church organization but in religious faith are Universalists. In his
political affiliations Mr. Maring is a Republican, has served as precinct committeeman for a number of years, has been a
delegate to both state and congressional conventions and is recognized as one of the leaders of the party in Whitley
county. He was appointed census enumerator for Jefferson township in 1880 and again in 1890 and on May 26, 1894,
received by acclamation the nomination for clerk of the circuit court of Whitley county by the Republican county
convention and on the 6th of November following was elected, receiving 2.115 votes to 2,057 that were cast for his
Democratic opponent, Walter J. Tyree. This was considered a great political victory for Mr. Maring as the county had
heretofore been strongly Democratic and Mr. Tyree was a man of excellent reputation. On November 30, 1895, Mr.
Maring entered, upon the duties of his office which he filled in a very acceptable manner and at the close of his term
returned to his farm which he has continued to improve and is to-day a model country home.
On the retirement of Mr. Maring from the clerk's office, the Columbia City Commercial said of him editorially :
"Thursday, R. H. Maring turned the clerk's office over to Walter J. Tyree. Whitley county, nor no other county for that
matter, ever had a more efficient and conscientious clerk than Mr. Maring. By his uniformly courteous treatment of all
with whom he has had business to transact he has won the esteem and respect of the entire county and retires from the
office he has so efficiently filled for four years, with the well wishes of all persons of all parties. The Commercial hopes
for Mr. Maring and his estimable family a bright and pleasant future."
Page 800:
MARCUS GILLESPIE.
The Gillespie family is not only patriotic, but has the courage of its convictions. The paternal grandfather came
to this country before the Revolutionary war and when the struggle came on he enlisted for the independence and
equality of man. His son Menzes continued the brave record as a soldier in the war of 1812, and thus both
offered the greatest sacrifice possible for a man to make in behalf of his country—their lives as soldiers.
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1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
Marcus Gillespie is a native of Blendon township, Franklin county, Ohio, where he was born October 19, 1821. His
parents, Menzes and Chloe (Phelps) Gillespie, were born in Windsor, Connecticut, the father in 1796 and mother in
1799. They came to Ohio soon after the war of 1812, where they lived to the close of their lives, the mother's death
occurring in 1865 and the father's in 1846. Seven children were born to them, three of whom 'are still living and all over
seventy years of age. Marcus came to Indiana in 1847 and settled on Indian Creek in Jefferson township on what was
called the old Raccoon road, named after Chief Raccoon's village. He cleared land and built a cabin, where he lived five
years clearing and farming. In 1852 he sold his place and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on which he
still lives. He built a cabin and applied himself energetically in clearing and improving his farm until it was a very
desirable place, with good buildings and all the modern conveniences. It is stocked with a good breed of hogs and
Durham cattle.
He was married in 1846 to Anna, daughter of Abner Parks, who came from New Jersey to Ohio, where he
lived the remainder of his days. Mr. Parks was a shoemaker by trade, which at that time was a good one and profitable
as well. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie, three of whom are still living: Mary married Samuel Swain,
attorney and real estate dealer 6f Fort Wayne. Arthur married Barbara Howenstine and resides on the farm adjoining his
fathers. Morton married Ina Smith, lives in Fort Wayne and is employed in the Orphans' Home of Allen county.
The industry and frugality of Mr. Gillespie have brought a competency for independence and comfort in old age. In
early life, he was a Whig, voting for Clay, Taylor and Scott, but since the formation of the Republican party he has given
it earnest support. A grandson enjoys a lease of the old home farm.
Pages 806-807
ALBERT BUREL TUCKER.
There are few people in Whitley county who have not heard of the gentleman whom we are now to briefly
consider. Not only has he been a long-time resident, but an extensive landowner, a breeder and dealer in fine stock, and
of much more than ordinary importance in financial affairs. His ancestors were early in Rhode Island, some of the
descendants removing to New York soon after the Revolution and settling along the historic Hudson and in a region
made memorable by incidents of that remarkable struggle.
From both his father's and mother's families, Mr. Tucker is descended from Colonial and Revolutionary stock.
In the eastern part of the country his forebears have been prominent and have taken active parts in the life and business
of their communities. His grandfather, Nathan Tucker, a Quaker, who was a victim of early persecution, was born at
New Bedford, Massachusetts. The family is descended from pure English stock, and Nathaniel Tucker, of the famous
"Tucker House," a place visited by many tourists, was a brother of the great grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
The family's history in this country dates from the coming of three brothers from England as settlers in the new country.
These brothers were Nathaniel, Jabez and Joshua. His mother's family is correspondingly illustrious. His maternal great
grandfather came to this country as a drummer boy in Burgoyne's army. Her father, James Parker, was born in
Greenwich, Washington, New York, November 29, 1788. He served as a captain of cavalry in the war of 1812,
was a deacon in the Baptist church, which at that time had a membership of about seven hundred, and died October 6,
1851. James Parker married Sarah Weaver, born in Providence, Rhode Island, October 7, 1793, and twelve children
were the result of the union. All grew to maturity, the first to die reaching the age of forty-two years. Mrs. Alanson
Tucker's grandfather, Richard Parker, was born in Rhinebeck, Duchess county, New York, December 6, 1765. He
served as a soldier through the Revolutionary war enlisting as a drummer boy when a mere youth. After the war he
settled in Washington county, New York. The father of Mr. Alonso Tucker was born in Greenwich, February 15, 1809.
He was married to Louisa Teresa Parker, who was born in Argyle, New York, July 31, 1812, and who died at Etna,
Whitley county, Indiana, November 12, 1897.
In childhood both Anson and wife were playmates with Chester A. Arthur, whose father was the pastor of the
Baptist church at Greenwich. Removing to Ohio in 1849, he remained five years and in 1854 came to Whitley county,
where he purchased four hundred acres of woodland in Etna township, the location of the home being close to the
village. His efforts were thenceforth directed to the development of a farm. Anticipating the great increase in the
demand for walnut lumber, he purchased a large amount of that timber and holding it a few years was enabled to realize
the advance in price, selling lumber at eighty dollars per thousand. His every venture was successful, so that his energies
resulted in the accumulation of a handsome estate. He died in 1869, his companion surviving till -1897, aged eighty-five.
He was a Whig and later a Republican and served his township as trustee.
In early life he was a contractor in building canal locks and other stone work. He was fearless under all
circumstances, one instance illustrating his character. Mason Long, in his "Converted Gambler," gives Mr. Tucker credit
for breaking up an organized gang of thieves at Fort Wayne, who plied their nefarious calling in collusion with the police
force. The leader, Ryan, secured Tucker's purse by the assistance of an accomplice. Tucker was armed, as he knew of
the gang's depradations. He shot Ryan, one shot taking effect in the neck after glancing from the collar-button. He
forced a policeman at the point of the revolver to crawl under a house where Ryan had hid and dislodge him and
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1907 History of Whitley County
References to the War of 1812
followed the two to the station-house, covering them with his weapon. Ryan was finally sent to the penitentiary for two
years and the gang was broken up.
Mr. Tucker was about ten years old when he became a "wild westerner" by reason of his parents' transfer of
residence from New York to the Hoosier state. The schools of the day, especially in the country sections, were poor
avenues to education even for those most anxious to learn, but Albert, by occasional attendance at the old log cabin,
managed to pick up the rudiments that were the basis of a wide practical education. At the death of his father he
inherited part of the four hundred acres and this has been the scene of his activities as well as the basis of his fortune.
He owns about three hundred acres, most of which is in a high state of cultivation and brought to an advanced state of
fertility by his untiring labors. In 1869 he erected a handsome and commodious house on the farm at the village of
Etna, which is regarded as one of the best in the township. The outbuildings, fencing, roads, facilities for feeding and
watering, indeed all the features are such as to indicate a progressive guiding hand. Mr. Tucker is a breeder of Percheron
horses and takes commendable pride in the mammoth draft animals of his stables, the result of careful selection and
judicious training. He also breeds and deals extensively in cattle and sheep, ranking well among live stock men of the
county both in quantity and quality of his stock. Mr. Tucker has other financial interests, especially in making loans and
investments. He is a stockholder and director in the Columbia City National Bank. He is a member of the Baptist
church, belongs to the Odd Fellows' lodge, is a Republican and has served as trustee of the township.
In 1898 Mr. Tucker married Miss Mary M., daughter of Milo and Catherine (Bowersock) Lawrence, former
residents of Allen county, but now living in Thorncreek township of Whitley. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker have one son,
Lawrence L.
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